An assessment was carried out of two contingently flooded low land areas, located at the Experimental Farm of Leopoldina, owned by Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais (EPAMIG)-Brazil-MG. Area 1 (3 ha) was cultivated with Angola-grass (Brachiaria mutica) pasture, not well managed and without any weed control for more than 10 years. Area 2 (5 ha) was occupied by Setaria grass (Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula) pasture which had been established in the previous rainy season, with forage being affected by the slow growth of the plants. For the phyto-sociological study, the inventory square method was applied through a square of 1,0 m², randomly placed 19 times in area 1 and 41 times in area 2. The species found were identified and recorded. In the Angola-grass pasture, 27 species were identified, distributed in 11 families; in the Setaria grass pasture, 34 species were identified, distributed in 13 families. The most representative families in number of species were: Poaceae (11); Asteraceae (6); Papilionoideae (5); Malvaceae and Euphorbiaceae (4). The most frequent species were: Cynodon dactylon, Sida rhombifolia, Cyperus esculentus, Mimosa pudica, Senna occidentalis, Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula and Paspalum urvillei. In general, both areas were infested with weeds, including toxic, spinescent and rather unpalatable plants, reducing the animal support capacity of the pastures and preventing adequate utilization of the areas by the cattle.
phyto-sociology; pasture; weeds
