Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses
Functional traits are powerful tools for distinguishing between plants with different resource acquisition strategies. Fast-growing plants normally dominate resource-rich habitats and present trait values associated with high productivity, such as high specific leaf area (SLA), short leaf lifespan,...
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| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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PLoS One
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21922 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0306692 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306692 |
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| author | Pittaro, Gabriela Duchini, Paulo G. Guzatti, Gabriela C. Sbrissia, André F. |
| author_browse | Duchini, Paulo G. Guzatti, Gabriela C. Pittaro, Gabriela Sbrissia, André F. |
| author_facet | Pittaro, Gabriela Duchini, Paulo G. Guzatti, Gabriela C. Sbrissia, André F. |
| author_sort | Pittaro, Gabriela |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Functional traits are powerful tools for distinguishing between plants with different resource acquisition strategies. Fast-growing plants normally dominate resource-rich habitats and present trait values associated with high productivity, such as high specific leaf area (SLA), short leaf lifespan, and rapid leaf elongation rate (LER). In contrast, slow-growing species have a higher leaf weight ratio (LWR), leaf lifespan (LLS), and phyllochron, which are useful traits for survival in stressful and unfertile environments, but are normally thought to be incompatible with high productivity, even under fertile conditions. We tested the hypothesis that slow-growing forage grasses have demographic parameters (tiller population density and canopy density) that offset their slow individual traits, making them as productive as fast-growing species when grown in fertile soil. Species with contrasting growth strategies (Arrhenatherum elatius L. and Festuca arundinacea Schreb cv. Quantum II, fast and slow-growing species, respectively) were cultivated in 45 m2 field plots and subjected to the same cutting regime and nitrogen supply level. Functional traits and canopy attributes were continuously measured during 8 growing cycles after the establishment of the swards. A. elatius had higher SLA, LER, leaf senescence, and leaf appearance rates, whereas F. arundinacea had higher LLS and LWR values. Conversely, there were no differences in relative growth rate or forage accumulation. F. arundinacea was able to offset their plant functional traits, typically associated with slow-growing grasses, with some demographic parameter like higher tiller population density, allowing it to be as productive as the fast-growing A. elatius when both were grown in fertile soil. Therefore, we suggest cautionary use of traditional plant functional traits to explain and predict the annual productivity of slow-growing grasses. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA21922 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | PLoS One |
| publisherStr | PLoS One |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA219222025-04-07T10:26:15Z Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses Pittaro, Gabriela Duchini, Paulo G. Guzatti, Gabriela C. Sbrissia, André F. Forage Grasses Growth Forrajes Gramineas Crecimiento Functional traits are powerful tools for distinguishing between plants with different resource acquisition strategies. Fast-growing plants normally dominate resource-rich habitats and present trait values associated with high productivity, such as high specific leaf area (SLA), short leaf lifespan, and rapid leaf elongation rate (LER). In contrast, slow-growing species have a higher leaf weight ratio (LWR), leaf lifespan (LLS), and phyllochron, which are useful traits for survival in stressful and unfertile environments, but are normally thought to be incompatible with high productivity, even under fertile conditions. We tested the hypothesis that slow-growing forage grasses have demographic parameters (tiller population density and canopy density) that offset their slow individual traits, making them as productive as fast-growing species when grown in fertile soil. Species with contrasting growth strategies (Arrhenatherum elatius L. and Festuca arundinacea Schreb cv. Quantum II, fast and slow-growing species, respectively) were cultivated in 45 m2 field plots and subjected to the same cutting regime and nitrogen supply level. Functional traits and canopy attributes were continuously measured during 8 growing cycles after the establishment of the swards. A. elatius had higher SLA, LER, leaf senescence, and leaf appearance rates, whereas F. arundinacea had higher LLS and LWR values. Conversely, there were no differences in relative growth rate or forage accumulation. F. arundinacea was able to offset their plant functional traits, typically associated with slow-growing grasses, with some demographic parameter like higher tiller population density, allowing it to be as productive as the fast-growing A. elatius when both were grown in fertile soil. Therefore, we suggest cautionary use of traditional plant functional traits to explain and predict the annual productivity of slow-growing grasses. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales Fil: Pittaro, Gabriela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; Argentina Fil: Pittaro, Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (UDEA); Argentina Fil: Pittaro, Gabriela. Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias (CAV); Brasil Fil: Duchini, Paulo G. Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias (CAV); Brasil Fil: Guzatti, Gabriela C. Campus São Miguel do Oeste. Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina (IFSC); Brasil Fil: Sbrissia, André F. Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias (CAV); Brasil 2025-04-07T10:17:15Z 2025-04-07T10:17:15Z 2024-07-30 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21922 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0306692 1932-6203 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306692 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 PLoS One PLoS One 19 (7) : e0306692 (2024) |
| spellingShingle | Forage Grasses Growth Forrajes Gramineas Crecimiento Pittaro, Gabriela Duchini, Paulo G. Guzatti, Gabriela C. Sbrissia, André F. Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses |
| title | Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses |
| title_full | Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses |
| title_fullStr | Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses |
| title_short | Unraveling the forage productivity puzzle: comparing fast and slow-growing grasses |
| title_sort | unraveling the forage productivity puzzle comparing fast and slow growing grasses |
| topic | Forage Grasses Growth Forrajes Gramineas Crecimiento |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21922 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0306692 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306692 |
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