Co-Creating Strategies to Optimize Traditional Silvopastoral Systems through the Management of Native Trees in Caívas in Southern Brazil

Abstract

The conservation of forest remnants in southern Brazil is closely related to historical land use, for example in systems such as caívas that occur within remnants of the Araucaria Forest and include livestock production and the extraction of yerba mate. Over the last decade, technologies adapted for these systems have been developed that promote a significant increase in animal productivity, without harming forest regeneration or the maintenance of the tree layer. However, the fertilization of pastures proposed in the technology has also promoted greater growth of native trees, with a consequent increase in shade levels. This, in turn, has affected the maintenance of pasture and yerba mate in the understory. Thus, this study sought to develop a methodology to adjust shade levels based on forest management that adheres to the limits permitted by current legislation. The objective was to evaluate the effect of tree management to maintain 50% shade levels on environmental indicators in a caíva that has been implementing pasture improvement technology since 2013. Native tree management occurred in 2020 and 2022 and the results were compared with data from the floristic survey of the area carried out in 2013. The results indicate that although the adoption of forest management to adjust shade levels reduced the density of individuals, it did not affect forest diversity, nor the basal area of the caíva tree layer. As such, it is possible to maintain pasture and yerba mate production in the area. Strategies like this are fundamental so that the forest landscape can continue to offer a source of production while also supporting environmental conservation.