Heterogeneous ecosystems are found in the state of Rio Grande do Sul as a consequence of the great number of soil types and variation in altitude and climate. These conditions reflect on the great variety of flora present in the grassland communities. The Area of Environmental Protection of the Ibirapuitã (APA of Ibirapuitã) is the only conservation unit under federal jurisdiction representative of the Campos bioma in Brazil. The objective of this work was to obtain information about the quality of the natural pasture on three types of soils in APA of Ibirapuitã: Superficial Basalt, Deep Basalt and Sandy, using three methods: total monthly accumulation using cages, hand plucking and regular cut. The data were collected monthly between October/2001 and September/2002. The native pasture on Superficial Basalt soil had superior nutritional quality when compared to the others, as seen in the results of different quality analyses. The pasture sampling methods did not influence the neutral detergent fibre content. The results indicate the hand plucking method, as the best for native pasture quality evaluations due to its effectiveness and facility of collection.
natural pasture; superficial basalt; deep basalt; sandy soil; nutritive value
