Pasture intensification through higher stocking rates, nitrogen fertilization and intensified grazing management in beef cattle production optimizes pasture use by increasing the forage harvested. We aimed to assess its effects on the morphogenesis and canopy structure of Urochloa brizantha ‘Marandu’ (marandu palisadegrass) pastures. The treatments consisted of marandu palisadegrass pastures managed under continuous stocking and a canopy height of 25 cm, with different levels of intensification: extensive, semi-intensive, and intensive systems N-fertilized with 0 kg, 75 kg, and 150 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively, as ammonium nitrate (32% of N), with four replicates (paddocks) in a completely randomized design. Phyllochron (9.8 days) and leaf lifespan (34.7 days) were shorter in intensified pastures, whereas herbage mass was similar among treatments. Extensive pastures had a higher proportion of senescent material; thus, more intensive systems showed higher proportions of leaves and stems, although the leaves-to-stem ratio remained similar across production systems. The defoliation interval was lower in intensive (14.4 days) and higher in extensive (18.7 days) treatments. Thus, pasture intensification accelerates leaf appearance, decreases leaf lifespan, shortens the tiller defoliation interval and increased herbage accumulation rate but does not change herbage mass. The extensive system produces excessive forage losses due to dead material.

中文翻译：

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Marandu Palisadegrass (Urochloa brizantha 'Marandu') 的集约化生产和管理可加速叶片周转但不改变牧草质量

通过提高放养率、施氮肥和肉牛生产中的集约化放牧管理来进行牧场集约化，通过增加收获的草料来优化牧场使用。我们旨在评估其对Urochloa brizantha 'Marandu'（marandu palisadegrass）牧场形态发生和冠层结构的影响。处理包括在连续放养下管理的马兰杜栅栏草牧场和 25 厘米的树冠高度，具有不同的集约化水平：粗放、半集约和集约化系统，施氮 0 kg、75 kg 和 150 kg N ha ^{- 1}年^-1，分别作为硝酸铵（N 的 32%），在完全随机设计中具有四个重复（围场）。在集约化牧场中，Phyllochron（9.8 天）和叶片寿命（34.7 天）较短，而处理之间的牧草质量相似。广阔的牧场有较高比例的衰老物质；因此，更密集的系统显示出更高的叶和茎比例，尽管整个生产系统的叶茎比保持相似。密集处理（14.4 天）的落叶间隔较低，而粗放处理（18.7 天）的落叶间隔较高。因此，牧场集约化加速了叶片出现，降低了叶片寿命，缩短了分蘖落叶间隔并增加了牧草积累率，但不会改变牧草质量。由于死料，粗放系统产生过多的草料损失。