The aim of this work was to obtain the weed infestation patterns in sugarcane plantation with a history of mechanical harvest without previous straw burning. Twenty-eight plots were chosen in the Ribeirão Preto region, in the state of São Paulo, with evaluation and collection units being demarcated in each plot, in a proportion of two per hectare, which consisted of areas (4 rows of 4 meters in length) maintained free of any weed control method. Samplings were carried out at 120 days after cut with quadrants (0.5 m x 0.5 m) cast twice at random at each evaluation and collection unit. The following phytosociological indices were calculated from the obtained data: relative importance and aggregation index of species or group of species. Grouping analysis was carried out utilizing as the similarity coefficient the Euclidian distance and the Unweighted Pair-Group Method using arithmetic averages. It was possible to distinguish four groups as a function of relative importance and five plot groups as a function of the aggregation index, with formation of subgroups within some groups.
cluster analysis; straw; phytosociology; aggregation index; Saccharum spp
