Urochloa humidicola

We evaluated the effect of Urochloa humidicola on floristic similarity between native and cultivated grasslands and the differences in spatial distributions between species. To analyze the effect of seasonality, we collected samples at the end of flood and dry periods. In native grasslands and another area cultivated with U. humidicola, samples were collected at three elevations (bottom; intermediate; and top). We identified 90 species and observed a high similarity between the cultivated and native grassland during the flood period; both grasslands exhibited significant differences during the drought period. This difference was due to an increased presence of grasses, mainly U. humidicola, in the cultivated grassland (Bao et al. 2015). To examine the potential role of competition with aquatic macrophytes in reducing its cover during floods, cuttings of U. humidicola were flooded in tanks in presence and absence of aquatic macrophytes for 3 months. Seedling density of U. humidicola was higher post-flood (245 seedlings/m−2) than the post-dry (130 seedlings/m−2). Germination occurred throughout the year, with highest seedling densities at the five to 7 months following soil collection. Competition with aquatic plants significantly increased mortality (c. 70%) of inundated U. humidicola (Bao et al. 2020).

Extratos de raises de Urochloa humidicola reduziram o crescimento de espécies cultivadas e ruderais em experimentos de laboratório (Feitoza et al. 2020), mas não há evidência específica para biota nativa.