Growth, production and wood quality in integrated crop-livestock-forest and monoculture systems

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the growth, production and wood quality a clonal hybrid (Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla) produced in integrated crop-livestock-forest systems (iCLF) and monoculture. The study was carried out in an iCLF system and a monoculture stand, both in the municipality of Sinop, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Diameter (at 1.3 m height), total height and production (volume) of trees were evaluated, along with wood quality (growth strains and wood density). The parameters of the trees in the iCLF system were analyzed according to the different positions of the trees in the plantation (lines and between rows), and were compared with the quality of the wood produced in the traditional system (homogeneous plantation). The results indicated an approximate yield of 22.98 m-3ha-1year-1for iCLF and 32.15 m-3ha-1year-1for traditional planting. The longitudinal residual deformation LRD (growth stress) in the iCLF system was higher for the central trees of the stand. The canopy projection in monoculture plantation and the central line of the iCLF system presented more homogenous distribution in relation to the other planting lines. The trees produced in the integrated system presented greater wood density than those produced in the monoculture.