Silvopastoral systems as a tool for recovering degraded pastures and improving animal thermal comfort indexes in Northern Ecuador

Abstract

Abstract Athropogenic changes have caused profound repercussions, which have led to a progressive degradation of natural resources. In the case of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the high rate of deforestation, changes in land use and extensive livestock management have led to low production rates with an eminent threat to the thermal comfort of ruminants. The present study aimed to contrasts how the use of SPs represents a viable option for the reconversion of extensive livestock farming. The current study compared the use of silvopastoral systems (SPs) versus a conventional pastoral system, as an alternative for the recovery of degraded areas. Therefore, under a completely randomized block design, Brachiaria decumbens was evaluated with three of treatments, such as Control = conventional pastoral, SPs1 = density 100 trees/ha-1 and SPs2 = 150 trees/ha-1. All environmental variables and bioclimatic indicators (temperature and radiant heat load: RHL) were shown to be mitigated under SPs (P < 0.001), which translates into better thermal comfort for ruminants (RHL; 638 vs. 1749 ± 40; P < 0.001). Although, the treatments affected all the agronomic variables of Brachiaria decumbens (P < 0.001 to 0.004), the month conditioned most of the chemical determinations (P < 0.001). This means that the use of SPs in the medium or long term could contribute to the recovery of pastures in degradation processes. Consequently, SPs as a clean production alternative would help improve aspects such as soil quality, agronomic yields, as well as greater nutritional quality of pastures. In any case, long-term studies should be performed to contrast our responses.