Sustainable pasture improvment in a Sardinian Quercus suber L. forest

Mechanical shrub clearance was carried out as an alternative to the use of blade dozers in a dense Quercus suber forest in a granitic area of central Sardinia, followed by fertlisation and/or oversowing of annual self-reseeding forage species. Preliminary results showed that fertilisation can increase DMY by up to 165% (90 Kg ha-1 P2O5) and 214% (90 Kg ha-1 P2O5 and 35 Kg ha-1 N) with respect to the control (0.63 t ha-1 DMY). Sown mixtures of Medicago polymorpha and Trifolium subterraneum achieved good establishment and contributed considerably to total yield (82%). The addition of Lolium rigidum to the mixture led to similar production levels (2.3 t ha-1) but to a lower contribution of the sown species to total biomass (50%).