Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina

Poa ligularis is an important forage, perennial bunchgrass in Patagonian rangelands. We hypothesized that (1) root biomass in P. ligularis is not reduced by increased defoliation frequency, as carbon would be allocated similarly above- (for leaf and shoot regrowth) and belowground (to maintain the w...

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Autores principales: Busso, Carlos Alberto, Gittins Lopez, Cecilia Gabriela, Becker, Guillermo Fernando
Formato: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Sryahwa Publications 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14481
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author Busso, Carlos Alberto
Gittins Lopez, Cecilia Gabriela
Becker, Guillermo Fernando
author_browse Becker, Guillermo Fernando
Busso, Carlos Alberto
Gittins Lopez, Cecilia Gabriela
author_facet Busso, Carlos Alberto
Gittins Lopez, Cecilia Gabriela
Becker, Guillermo Fernando
author_sort Busso, Carlos Alberto
collection INTA Digital
description Poa ligularis is an important forage, perennial bunchgrass in Patagonian rangelands. We hypothesized that (1) root biomass in P. ligularis is not reduced by increased defoliation frequency, as carbon would be allocated similarly above- (for leaf and shoot regrowth) and belowground (to maintain the water uptake necessary for shoot regrowth), and (2) root survival is greater with increasing soil depth in the various defoliation treatments because shallow soils are characteristically more water-limited depending on seasonal precipitation. Five defoliation frequencies (plants defoliated once, twice, or three, four or five times, plus 1 non-defoliated control) were applied in a representative grassland of the Occidental District in Patagonia during each of two consecutive growing seasons. Plants were defoliated, leaving 5 cm stubble, whenever regrowth reached 10 cm height. Root disappearance and appearance (using a root color scale), and root spatial distribution in the soil, were determined every 3 cm-soil depth increments up to 30 cm in the soil profile using a root periscope. The root color scale allowed us to develop equations to calculate root increase and mortality rates during each study period. Shoot biomasses per plant were not affected by any defoliation frequency during 2002/03. However, plants defoliated three or more times annually showed a lower shoot biomass than the non-defoliated controls during the second year of successive defoliations. Root dynamics was not affected by the study defoliation frequencies. Both hypotheses were confirmed by the results. Our findings suggest that (1) plant vigor on P. ligularis is most often favored by no more than two defoliations annually, immediately before internode elongation to 5 cm stubble height each, and (2) root field studies should be performed using short- rather than long-sampling increments into the soil profile because changes in root dynamics occurred at a scale of a few centimeters within it.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
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spelling INTA144812023-04-14T13:51:05Z Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina Busso, Carlos Alberto Gittins Lopez, Cecilia Gabriela Becker, Guillermo Fernando Argentina Perennial Grasses Root Dynamics Root Mortality Root Recruitment Hierbas Perennes Dinámica Raíz Mortalidad de Raíces Reclutamiento de Raíz Poa Ligularis Región Patagónica Poa ligularis is an important forage, perennial bunchgrass in Patagonian rangelands. We hypothesized that (1) root biomass in P. ligularis is not reduced by increased defoliation frequency, as carbon would be allocated similarly above- (for leaf and shoot regrowth) and belowground (to maintain the water uptake necessary for shoot regrowth), and (2) root survival is greater with increasing soil depth in the various defoliation treatments because shallow soils are characteristically more water-limited depending on seasonal precipitation. Five defoliation frequencies (plants defoliated once, twice, or three, four or five times, plus 1 non-defoliated control) were applied in a representative grassland of the Occidental District in Patagonia during each of two consecutive growing seasons. Plants were defoliated, leaving 5 cm stubble, whenever regrowth reached 10 cm height. Root disappearance and appearance (using a root color scale), and root spatial distribution in the soil, were determined every 3 cm-soil depth increments up to 30 cm in the soil profile using a root periscope. The root color scale allowed us to develop equations to calculate root increase and mortality rates during each study period. Shoot biomasses per plant were not affected by any defoliation frequency during 2002/03. However, plants defoliated three or more times annually showed a lower shoot biomass than the non-defoliated controls during the second year of successive defoliations. Root dynamics was not affected by the study defoliation frequencies. Both hypotheses were confirmed by the results. Our findings suggest that (1) plant vigor on P. ligularis is most often favored by no more than two defoliations annually, immediately before internode elongation to 5 cm stubble height each, and (2) root field studies should be performed using short- rather than long-sampling increments into the soil profile because changes in root dynamics occurred at a scale of a few centimeters within it. EEA Alto Valle Fil: Busso, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina. Fil: Gittins López, Cecilia Gabriela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Alto Valle; Argentina Fil: Becker, Guillermo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina 2023-04-14T13:40:30Z 2023-04-14T13:40:30Z 2016 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14481 2394-5885 (Print) 2394-5893 (Online) eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Sryahwa Publications International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Biosciences 3 (5) : 7-23 (Mayo 2016)
spellingShingle Argentina
Perennial Grasses
Root Dynamics
Root Mortality
Root Recruitment
Hierbas Perennes
Dinámica Raíz
Mortalidad de Raíces
Reclutamiento de Raíz
Poa Ligularis
Región Patagónica
Busso, Carlos Alberto
Gittins Lopez, Cecilia Gabriela
Becker, Guillermo Fernando
Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina
title Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina
title_full Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina
title_fullStr Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina
title_short Defoliation Frequency Effects on Shoots and Roots of Poa ligularis in Arid Patagonia, Argentina
title_sort defoliation frequency effects on shoots and roots of poa ligularis in arid patagonia argentina
topic Argentina
Perennial Grasses
Root Dynamics
Root Mortality
Root Recruitment
Hierbas Perennes
Dinámica Raíz
Mortalidad de Raíces
Reclutamiento de Raíz
Poa Ligularis
Región Patagónica
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14481
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