Unveiling agroforestry potential: performance of forest species in silvopastoral systems after six years

Although integration systems have been used since ancient times in various types of plantations, the adoption of integrated systems and their practices involving cattle and forest species are still considered innovative in the Brazilian agricultural context. In light of this, this study evaluated the growth and production of four forest species in a silvopastoral system, six years after planting in the field. The experiment was installed using a randomized block design with a 4 × 3 factorial scheme, consisting of four forest species (Aspidosperma polyneuron Mull. Arg., Eucalyptus cloeziana F. Muell., Khaya senegalensis (Desv.) A. Juss, and Swietenia macrophylla King.) and three spacings (3 × 2 m; 3 × 3 m; 3 × 4 m), with four replications and plots composed of 18 plants, totaling 864 plants. To evaluate the growth and production of the species, total height (Ht), diameter at breast height (DBH), and height of the breast (H) were measured, and the sectional area per plant (g), basal area per hectare (G), volume per plant (Vol/ind), volume per hectare (Vol/ha), and mean annual increment (MAI) were calculated. The results indicated that all variables were influenced by species, while basal area and volume per hectare were affected by spacing. E. cloeziana and K. senegalensis exhibited better growth and productivity at the 3 × 2 spacing compared to A. polyneuron and S. macrophylla. Regarding the survival of the species, K. senegalensis, A. polyneuron, E. cloeziana, and S. macrophylla showed survival rates of over 98%, 55.5%, 70.8%, and 54.1%, respectively, across all tested spacings.