Lucerne pastures to sustain agricultural production in southwestern Australia

Latta, R. A.; Cocks, P. S.; Matthews, Chris

doi:10.1016/s0378-3774(01)00158-5

Cited by 38 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Positive and elevated relationships between leaf area and Mg, N, Ca, P and Na contents were observed, indicating and reinforcing this idea. Indeed, as a deep rooted plant, Lucerne is able to reduce water table recharge (Latta et al 2002), when soil was dried, which eventually led to a large decrease in leaf area (a strong sink for nutrients). However, for K, the correlation was negative indicating the role of potassium accumulation in drought stress tolerance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alfalfa nutritive quality as influenced by drought in South-Eastern Oasis of Tunisia

Abid

Mansour

Yahia

et al. 2016

Italian Journal of Animal Science

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Medicago sativa is the main perennial legume in many places in the world such as South-East Tunisian Oases. The widespread use of this species is due to its high adaptability, forage yield potential and to its good quality. Furthermore, the succession of drought years in South-East Tunisian Oases especially in Gabes influenced fodder distribution and digestibility. To a better understanding of the variation of the nutritive value of (Medicago sativa L.) plants, the effect of four drought levels (25%; 50%; 75% and 100% of field capacity) on nutritive quality was investigated for three populations [P1 (Gannouch); P2 (Chenini) and P3 (Tebelbou)] cultivated in these oases. Results showed that drought reduced leaves, shoots and roots dry matter, while this effect was more pronounced for above organs (values reached 1.2 mg) than below organs (values reached 1.8 mg). However, drought decreased phosphor, calcium, magnesium and nitrogen contents, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and in acid detergent lignin content for P1 and P2, this stress enhanced potassium uptake, leaves shoots and roots shoots ratios especially for P3, values passed from 1.56 for control treatment to 2.06 for 25% of field capacity. This population seems to be the most resistant to drought by maintaining reduced leaf area and elevated ratios. This result indicates that Medicago sativa succeed to maintain a good nutritive value under stress conditions. To the best of our knowledge, it is important to study the effect of this stress on others varieties to more understand its effect on nutritive value. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alfalfa nutritive quality as influenced by drought in South-Eastern Oasis of Tunisia

Abid

Mansour

Yahia

et al. 2016

Italian Journal of Animal Science

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“…The problem is further In Australia as in many other countries, lucerne (Medicago sativa) is the main perennial pasture legume (Humphries and Auricht, 2001). Being a deeprooted perennial, lucerne is able to reduce water table recharge (Latta et al, 2002), which is a major cause of dryland salinity (Dear et al, 2003;Kington and Pannell 2003). This capacity has meant that lucerne is increasingly being used in agricultural phase farming systems (1-4 years of annual crops followed by 2-5 years of perennial pastures).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the south west of Western Australia and in southern regions of South Australia, relatively short (two-four weeks) periods of waterlogging in winter are common. These areas suffer from perched watertables and growing lucerne could help ameliorate this problem by lowering the watertable (Latta et al, 2002). However, lucerne growth and yield is significantly reduced due to waterlogging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional and chlorophyll fluorescence responses of lucerne (Medicago sativa) to waterlogging and subsequent recovery

2005

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Periodic flooding of perennial crops such as lucerne (Medicago sativa, L) is a major cause of lowered productivity and leads in extreme cases to plant death. In this study, effects of waterlogging and subsequent recovery on plant nutrient composition and PSII photochemistry were studied to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of recovery as they relate to leaf photochemistry (chlorophyll fluorescence) and nutrient dynamics. Three lucerne cultivars and one breeding line were flooded for 20 d, drained and left to recover for another 16 d under glasshouse conditions. Leaf and root nutrient composition (P, K, Ca, Mg, B, Cu and Zn) of waterlogged lucerne was significantly lower than in freely drained controls, leaf N concentrations were also significantly lower in waterlogged lucerne. At the same time, there were significantly (5-fold) higher concentrations of Fe in waterlogged roots and Na in leaves (2-fold) of stressed plants. PS II photochemistry, which was impaired due to waterlogging, recovered almost fully after 16 d of free drainage in all genotypes. Alongside fluorescence recovery, concentrations of several nutrients also increased in recovered plants. Growth parameters, however, remained suppressed after draining. The latter was due to both the smaller capacity of CO 2 assimilation in previously waterlogged plants (caused in part by nutrient deficiency and associated inhibition of PSII) and the plant's need to re-direct available nutrient and assimilate pools to repair the damage to the photosynthetic apparatus and roots. It is concluded, that for any lucerne-breeding program it is important to determine not only the degree of tolerance to waterlogging but also the potential for recovery of different genotypes, as well as look for 'outstanding individuals' within each population.Abbreviations: Ci -substomatal cavity CO 2 concentration; ETR -electron transport rate; Fo -minimal fluorescence; Fm -maximal fluorescence; Fv -variable fluorescence; NPQ -non-photochemical quenching; qP -photochemical quenching; qN -non-photochemical quenching; PAM -pulse amplitude modulation; WLwaterlogging; SDW shoot dry weight; RDW -root dry weight.

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“…The process also familiarized farmers with the objectives of the NDRC and led to better community understanding of its overall goals. As a result, NDRC officers have coordinated 350 km of fencing around remnant vegetation, improved habitats for indigenous animals and plants with 1000 ha of streamline buffering (planting native species along drainage foreshores), and monitored planting by the private sector of 7000 ha of deep rooted perennial pastures and 5000 ha of farm forestry during 2002-2004. After putting in place catchment-level programs to reduce recharge and increase biodiversity values across the terrestrial catchment that were based on results of substantial agricultural and landscape ecological research (Lambeck et al, 2000;Short et al, 2000;Latta et al, 2002), management effort in the NDRC was re-directed towards protecting specific high-value wetlands. This required research to define biological values more comprehensively, especially for key habitats within wetlands, and to understand the particular salinisation processes occurring around the Lake Warden system.…”

Section: Ameliorating Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating Research Results into Wetland Management: Lessons from Recovery Catchments in Saline Landscapes

Halse¹,

Massenbauer²

2005

Hydrobiologia

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Use of science in wetland management has increased considerably over the last 50 years but there is still scope for improving the transfer of research results into management. Issues that lead to less than optimal transfer include: (1) managers not accessing existing technical information adequately, (2) researchers addressing issues of peripheral importance to management rather than key information needs, (3) managers failing to identify significant information gaps and to resource appropriate research in a timely way, (4) scale of research and certainty of results being inappropriate for application to broad-scale situations by managers responsible for outcomes, and (5) funding bodies not fully recognizing that transfer of research results to management requires a development phase. Establishment of recovery catchments in the Western Australian wheatbelt, with the aim of maintaining regional biodiversity in the face of increasing dryland salinisation, is a program that relies on transferring research results into management. However, the multidisciplinary nature of managing salinisation is a challenge for many catchment managers and formal management systems are probably an important adjunct to close knowledge of the catchment when making management decisions. An examination of management planning and actions in the Lake Warden Natural Diversity Recovery Catchment, south-west Western Australia, highlights the continuum between research and management, the importance of understanding the physical environment when managing biodiversity, and the fact that much wetland conservation relies on management action in terrestrial landscapes.

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Lucerne pastures to sustain agricultural production in southwestern Australia

Cited by 38 publications

References 11 publications

Alfalfa nutritive quality as influenced by drought in South-Eastern Oasis of Tunisia

Alfalfa nutritive quality as influenced by drought in South-Eastern Oasis of Tunisia

Nutritional and chlorophyll fluorescence responses of lucerne (Medicago sativa) to waterlogging and subsequent recovery

Incorporating Research Results into Wetland Management: Lessons from Recovery Catchments in Saline Landscapes

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