Heritability of Simulated Wear and Traffic Tolerance in Three Fine Fescue Species

Abstract

<jats:p>In recent years, turfgrass breeders have given increased attention to the development of lower maintenance turfgrass cultivars. Fine fescues (<jats:italic>Festuca</jats:italic> spp.) have been identified as potential candidate species for low-maintenance lawns because of their reduced need for water, mowing, and fertilizer. Unfortunately, these species have some weaknesses that must be improved to facilitate their use; perhaps, the most important of these is tolerance to wear and traffic. For this trait to be improved in new cultivars, there must be sufficient heritable variation available for plant breeders to exploit; however, little is known about the heritability of this complex trait in fine fescue species. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the heritability of wear and traffic tolerance in three fine fescue species. Replicated field studies were established in North Brunswick, NJ, and St. Paul, MN, and each included 157 Chewing’s fescue (<jats:italic>Festuca rubra</jats:italic> L. subsp. fallax), 155 hard fescue (<jats:italic>Festuca brevipilia</jats:italic>), and 149 strong creeping red fescue (<jats:italic>F. rubra</jats:italic> L. subsp. <jats:italic>rubra</jats:italic>) genotypes. Wear tolerance was evaluated in North Brunswick and traffic tolerance was evaluated in St. Paul during 2015 and 2016 using different simulators to determine both plant performance and broad-sense heritability estimates for wear and traffic tolerance. Broad-sense heritability estimates for the three species when calculated on a clonal basis was between 0.69 and 0.82 for wear tolerance in the North Brunswick location and between 0.49 and 0.60 for traffic tolerance in the St. Paul location. On a single-plant basis, broad-sense heritability estimates for the three species were between 0.31 and 0.45 for wear tolerance in the North Brunswick location and 0.09 and 0.12 for traffic tolerance in St. Paul. However, this research does indicate that improvement of wear and traffic tolerance in fine fescues is possible through recurrent breeding methods based on selection of replicated clonally propagated genotypes rather than selection of single individual plants of a population. This was the first study to determine the genetic effects of wear and traffic tolerance in any turfgrass species.</jats:p>

Fine fescues: A review of the species, their improvement, production, establishment, and management

“…Since that time, plant breeders have released new cultivars of all five fine fescue taxa with wear tolerance improvement, but there is still a similar trend across the species with Chewings fescue, slender creeping red fescue, and, at times, hard fescue having the best wear tolerance, and strong creeping red fescue and sheep fescue having the poorest wear tolerance among fine fescue taxa (Bonos et al., 2001; Cross et al., 2013; Grimshaw, Qu, Meyer, Watkins, & Bonos, 2018; Newell & Wood, 2003; Watkins et al., 2012) (Table 2). Most often, Chewings fescue is the top performer under wear stress among fine fescues (Bonos et al., 2001; Cereti et al., 2010; Newell & Wood, 2003; Shildrick, 1976b; Shildrick et al., 1983; Watkins et al., 2010, 2012).…”

“…Most often, Chewings fescue is the top performer under wear stress among fine fescues (Bonos et al., 2001; Cereti et al., 2010; Newell & Wood, 2003; Shildrick, 1976b; Shildrick et al., 1983; Watkins et al., 2010, 2012). However, in experiments with modern cultivars or germplasm, there are occurrences where slender creeping red fescue, hard fescue, or sheep fescue exhibited top wear and traffic tolerance among fine fescues or similar to Chewings fescue (Chen, Park., & Murphy, 2016; Cross et al., 2013; Grimshaw et al., 2018; Newell & Wood, 2003; Watkins et al., 2010).…”

“…They discovered more effective methods of improving wear and traffic tolerance in fine fescues such as using a phenotypic recurrent selection program with replicated clonally propagated genotypes rather than selection of single individual plants of a population as reported by Grimshaw et al. (2018).…”

Mechanisms of Environmental Stress Tolerance in Turfgrass

“…Furthermore, the application of trinexapac-ethyl was involved in enhancing the traffic stress resistance of wheatgrass and tall fescue via improving TQ, RWC, soluble sugar content, antioxidant enzymes activities and cell membrane stability [108]. To improve the wear tolerance of fine fescues, the recurrent breeding methods based on selection of replicated clonally propagated genotypes were recommended in recent research [177].…”

Traffic form and season of wear affect responses of fine fescues

“…As a result, abrasive wear appeared to be more efficient at identifying wear tolerant (greater differences in FTC among fine fescues) than cleated traffic. Grimshaw et al (2018) indicated improved selecting efficiency for fine fescues when applying wear stress compared to rolling (tire) traffic stress.…”