Productivity and water use of lucerne and two lucerne-grass mixtures in Canterbury

McKenzie, B. A.; Gyamtsho, P.; Lucas, Richard J.

doi:10.33584/jnzg.1990.52.1956

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Although McKenzie et al . () found most lucerne roots to be in the top 0.2 m of the soil, some roots were found down to 0.9 m. Other studies have reported the presence of lucerne roots as deep as 10 m (Forde et al ., ). This suggests a limitation in the lysimeter measurement technique for lucerne in the current study because the lysimeters used were only 0.7 m deep.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Effects of forage type and gibberellic acid on nitrate leaching losses

Woods

Cameron

Edwards

et al. 2016

Soil Use and Management

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Nitrogen (N) leaching from soil into water is a significant concern for intensively grazed forage‐based systems because it can cause a decline in water quality and is a risk to human health. Urine patches from grazing animals are the main source of this N. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect that forage type and gibberellic acid (GA) application had on N leaching and herbage N uptake from urine patches on perennial ryegrass–white clover (RGWC), Italian ryegrass and lucerne. A lysimeter study was conducted over 17 months to measure herbage growth, N uptake and N loss to water beneath each of the three forage types with the following treatments: control, urine (700 kg N/ha) and urine with GA (8 g GA active ingredient/ha). Compared with RGWC (205 kg N/ha), N leaching losses were 35.3% lower from Italian ryegrass (133 kg N/ha) and 98.5% higher from lucerne (407 kg N/ha). These differences in leaching loss are likely to be due to winter plant growth and N uptake. During the winter months, Italian ryegrass had higher N uptake, whereas lucerne had lower N uptake, compared with RGWC. The application of GA had no effect on N leaching losses, DM yield or N uptake of forage treated with 700 kg N/ha urine.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Effects of forage type and gibberellic acid on nitrate leaching losses

Woods

Cameron

Edwards

et al. 2016

Soil Use and Management

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“…His data showed large variation between 0-200 mm which obscured significant effects, but only small differences from 600-1400 mm, with the exception of the very deep-rooted lucerne (Medicago sativa). McKenzie et al (1990) compared root mass profiles to 800 mm depth for pure and mixed swards of lucerne, prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii), phalaris (Phalaris aquatica) and perennial ryegrass. Monocultures of lucerne and phalaris appeared to have greater root mass than perennial ryegrass, both in total and below 200 mm, and this was maintained in mixtures (no statistical analysis was noted).…”

Section: Species Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The "root" to more soil carbon under pastures

Dodd¹,

Crush²,

Mackay³

et al. 2011

ProNZG

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Recent interest in building soil carbon in pastoral systems is driven by the imperative to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. It has been proposed that increasing root growth via deep rooting plants is a means of increasing soil carbon storage. Data on root depth distribution and production from a number of New Zealand studies are summarised to examine whether variation in root profiles can be manipulated and exploited. Most of the variation in root mass under grazed grass-clover pastures occurs in the upper 100 mm of soil. Changes in pasture management, such as soil fertility, grazing intensity and pasture species composition have a limited effect on root mass below this depth layer, of the order ±10-30%. Greater mass and length of roots in deeper soil layers under grazed grass-clover pastures is associated with lower soil fertility, drought stress and less commonly sown pasture species. The relationship between root mass (particularly deeper-root mass) and soil carbon storage has yet to be clearly established. Keywords: pasture species, root mass, soil carbon, soil fertility

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“…The long-term co-existence of lucerne and grass can be perilous, with one often failing to persist under competition with the other (Bishop and Gramshaw, 1977 ; Dear et al, 1999 ). Harding grass, one of the most persistent sown temperate perennial grasses in south-eastern Australia, is one species that complements lucerne and achieves a dynamic balance in a mixture with lucerne (Sherrell, 1984 ; McKenzie et al, 1990 ; Culvenor et al, 2007 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Above–Belowground Herbivore Interactions in Mixed Plant Communities Are Influenced by Altered Precipitation Patterns

et al. 2016

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Root- and shoot-feeding herbivores have the capacity to influence one another by modifying the chemistry of the shared host plant. This can alter rates of nutrient mineralization and uptake by neighboring plants and influence plant–plant competition, particularly in mixtures combining grasses and legumes. Root herbivory-induced exudation of nitrogen (N) from legume roots, for example, may increase N acquisition by co-occurring grasses, with knock-on effects on grassland community composition. Little is known about how climate change may affect these interactions, but an important and timely question is how will grass–legume mixtures respond in a future with an increasing reliance on legume N mineralization in terrestrial ecosystems. Using a model grass–legume mixture, this study investigated how simultaneous attack on lucerne (Medicago sativa) by belowground weevils (Sitona discoideus) and aboveground aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) affected a neighboring grass (Phalaris aquatica) when subjected to drought, ambient, and elevated precipitation. Feeding on rhizobial nodules by weevil larvae enhanced soil water retention under ambient and elevated precipitation, but only when aphids were absent. While drought decreased nodulation and root N content in lucerne, grass root and shoot chemistry were unaffected by changes in precipitation. However, plant communities containing weevils but not aphids showed increased grass height and N concentrations, most likely associated with the transfer of N from weevil-attacked lucerne plants containing more nodules and higher root N concentrations compared with insect-free plants. Drought decreased aphid abundance by 54% but increased total and some specific amino acid concentrations (glycine, lysine, methionine, tyrosine, cysteine, histidine, arginine, aspartate, and glutamate), suggesting that aphid declines were being driven by other facets of drought (e.g., reduced phloem hydraulics). The presence of weevil larvae belowground decreased aphid numbers by 30%, likely associated with a significant reduction in proline in weevil-treated lucerne plants. This study demonstrates how predicted changes to precipitation patterns and indirect interactions between herbivores can alter the outcome of competition between N-fixing legumes and non-N-fixing grasses, with important implications for plant community structure and productivity.

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Productivity and water use of lucerne and two lucerne-grass mixtures in Canterbury

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

Effects of forage type and gibberellic acid on nitrate leaching losses

Effects of forage type and gibberellic acid on nitrate leaching losses

The "root" to more soil carbon under pastures

Above–Belowground Herbivore Interactions in Mixed Plant Communities Are Influenced by Altered Precipitation Patterns

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