Forage Production and Selection for Vigor in Meadow and Hybrid Bromegrass in the Northern Great Plains - American Journal of Plant Sciences

AJPS > Vol.11 No.1, January 2020

Forage Production and Selection for Vigor in Meadow and Hybrid Bromegrass in the Northern Great Plains ()

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DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2020.111008 623 Downloads 1,269 Views

Author(s)

R. Martine Similien¹, Arvid Boe^1*, Bruce Coulman²

Affiliation(s)

¹Plant Sciences Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA.
²Plant Science Department, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

ABSTRACT

Meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius Rehmann) is an important forage crop in Canada and the Intermountain West, but it has not been extensively evaluated in the northern Great Plains (NGP). Our objectives were to 1) evaluate meadow, smooth, and hybrid bromegrasses for forage production under intensive management in eastern South Dakota, and 2) evaluate the effect of selection for vigor in multiple environments on forage production of meadow bromegrass. Thirteen populations (7 meadow bromegrass, 5 hybrid bromegrass, and 1 smooth bromegrass) were evaluated for 4 yrs (2005-2007, 2009) at Brookings, SD. Biomass at anthesis was greater for smooth (6.75 Mg ha^-1) than for meadow or hybrid brome (5.4 Mg ha^-1) in 2005, but production at anthesis during 2006 and 2007 was similar for meadow and smooth bromegrass. Regrowth harvested during July and October 2005 and November 2006 was greater for meadow than smooth or hybrid bromegrass. Forage production at anthesis in 2009, after rest (i.e., no cutting) and fertilization in 2008, was 4.2 Mg ha^-1 for meadow bromegrass compared with 3.3 Mg ha^-1 and 2.6 Mg ha^-1 for hybrid and smooth bromegrass, respectively. Smooth and hybrid bromegrasses had more leaves·tiller^-1 than meadow bromegrass. After 6 yrs, meadow bromegrass had higher tiller density and greater potential for tolerating multiple harvests during a growing season than did smooth or hybrid bromegrass. Selection for vigor in multiple environments in North America resulted in experimental populations of meadow bromegrass with superior forage yield compared with ‘Fleet’ on marginal crop land in the northern Great Plains.

KEYWORDS

Bromus riparius, Smooth Bromegrass, Bromus inermis, Morphology, Phytomer, Biomass Partitioning, Leaf Ratio, Tiller Density, Marginal Cropland

Share and Cite:

Similien, R. , Boe, A. and Coulman, B. (2020) Forage Production and Selection for Vigor in Meadow and Hybrid Bromegrass in the Northern Great Plains. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 11, 91-110. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2020.111008.

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