Response of six tropical grasses to prescribed burning in the West coast of Mexico | Respuesta de seis gramíneas tropicales a la quema prescrita en la costa oeste de México

Inglés. A three year study was conducted in Nayarit, Mexico with the objective of evaluating the effect of fire on yield, forage quality, and height of six tropical grasses. Panicum maximum and Hyparrhenia rufa were studied at El Verdineño Experimental Station. Cenchrus ciliaris, P. maximum var. Trichoglume, Cynodon plectostachyus, and C. dactylon were studied at El Macho Experimental Station. Treatments applied were prescribed burn and an unburned control. Two, 150-m2 field plots were used per treatment during three consecutive years. Each year in late May and early June, experimental areas were burned and environmental conditions recorded including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and soil moisture. When regrowth initiated, grasses were sampled at 15-day intervals until maturation. Analysis of variance and mean separation (LSD) tests were conducted. The response of grasses to fire varied with species. Yield of P. maximum, H. rufa, C. plectostachyus, and C. dactylon were not improved (P>0.05) by fire. In contrast, C. ciliaris and P. maximum var. Trichoglume showed a positive response (P

Español; castellano. En Nayarit, México, durante tres años se evaluó el efecto del fuego sobre el rendimiento, calidad y altura de las gramíneas: Panicum maximum, Hyparrhenia rufa, Cenchrus ciliaris, P. maximum var. Trichoglume, Cynodon plectostachyus y C. dactylon. Los tratamientos evaluados consistieron en quema y no quema. Se usaron parcelas de 150 m2. Anualmente se quemó en mayo y junio, registrándose la temperatura, humedad relativa, velocidad del viento y humedad del suelo. Cada 15 días se colectaron muestras de forraje, desde el rebrote hasta la madurez. Se realizaron análisis de varianza y comparación de medias (LSD). La respuesta de los zacates al fuego varió entre especies. El uso del fuego incrementó (P