Correlations among Soil, Leaf Morphology, and Physiological Factors with Wear Tolerance of Four Warm-season Turfgrass Species

Abstract

Traffic resistance of turfgrasses is an essential indicator of urban recreational and sports turf quality (TQ). In our study, four turfgrass species were investigated for their wear resistance. A self-made traffic simulator was used to determine the wear resistance of the study turf area in a 2-year field trial (2019–20). The experimental plots were established using a randomized block design with three replicates. The morphological characteristics, soil physical properties, and physiological indices of the grasses were analyzed. Using the acquired quantitative data, we set the turf cover index (TCI), the turf quality index (TQI), and the shoot density index (SDI) as the wear tolerance index, and assessed the correlations among these morphological characteristics, soil physical properties, physiological indices, and wear tolerance. ‘Lanyin III’ zoysiagrass and ‘Tifgreen’ hybrid bermudagrass provided relatively greater wear tolerance, followed by ‘Qingdao’ zoysiagrass and common bermudagrass after 12 weeks of traffic exposure in 2019 and 2020. Traffic changes the soil physical properties and affects the physiological metabolism of turfgrasses. Leaf morphology characteristics and the mechanical strength of these grasses were related significantly to TCI, TQI, and SDI, and most physiological responses and soil properties correlated significantly with TCI and TQI. Our findings of the correlations among physiological responses, soil properties, leaf morphology, and wear tolerance will allow grass breeders to evaluate their breeding procedures more efficiently.

Genetic Variability of Traffic Tolerance and Surface Playability of Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) under Fall Simulated Traffic Stress

“…Besides investigating canopy response, several studies have focused on understanding the physiological response under traffic stress. For instance, Wei et al (2022) found electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde content, and free proline content significantly increased when bermudagrass was subjected to traffic stress. In Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), activities of antioxidant enzymes ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase decrease after traffic stress (Pease et al 2022).…”

“…Under nontrafficked conditions, TifTuf often has delayed spring green-up compared with cultivar Tahoma 31 (NTEP 2017). Wei et al (2022) discovered that under trafficked stress, bermudagrass leaf soluble sugar contents significantly increased compared with the nontrafficked control. The study conducted by Schiavon et al (2016) provides evidence for ii TQ 5 turfgrass quality, rated visually on a 1 to 9 scale, where 1 5 dead or dormant turf, 6 5 minimal acceptable turf, and 9 5 excellent turf.…”

Salt-tolerant endophytic bacterium Enterobacter ludwigii B30 enhance bermudagrass growth under salt stress by modulating plant physiology and changing rhizosphere and root bacterial community

“…To combat ROS-induced OS, plants produce a range of antioxidative enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase. SOD has been recognized as the first line of defense to resist ROS by enhancing ROS scavenging through the catalysis of O 2 – dismutation into O 2 and H 2 O 2 ( Wei et al, 2022b ). Likewise, CAT can eliminate excess plant superoxide radicals, thereby protecting against OS, promoting the accumulation of dry matter, and improving plant resistance ( Ahmad et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Membrane permeability (MP) was measured based on the leaf electrolyte leakage (EL, determined as a percentage). An increase in EL indicates an increased MP value ( Wei et al, 2022b ). Freshly collected leaf blade samples (300 mg) from several pots were placed in a test tube containing distilled water (30 ml).…”