Theme 01: Ecophysiology of Grasslands
Description
The grazing study was conducted at the Estação Experimental Agronomica – UFRGS, 30o S, on a native pasture, to evaluate the leaf area index and structural morphological traits of bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Fl.), within the requirements of a Central Composite Rotatable experimental design, providing for equal precision, with two blocks, encompassing two factors at five levels each, namely: Herbage Allowance (HA) = 4.0; 5.5; 9.0; 12.5 and 14.0 kg green dry matter per 100 kg liveweight per day (% LW), in association with Nitrogen (N) fertilization levels of 0; 30; 100; 170 and 200 kg ha-1 as urea, The leaf length and leaf area index (LAI) were increased as HA and N levels increased. The tiller density was increased at higher HA where the N contribution showed to be more effective. More lenient grazing also increased leaf life span and leaf lamina length, while N promoted canopy density and reduced leaf life span and number of leaves per tiller. The higher LAI values developed were accomplished by reduced tiller densities that supported small number of leaves per tiller, with increased leaf sizes.
Included in
Herbage Allowance and Nitrogen Fertilization Effects on Morphological Characteristics of Paspalum notatum Flügge
The grazing study was conducted at the Estação Experimental Agronomica – UFRGS, 30o S, on a native pasture, to evaluate the leaf area index and structural morphological traits of bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Fl.), within the requirements of a Central Composite Rotatable experimental design, providing for equal precision, with two blocks, encompassing two factors at five levels each, namely: Herbage Allowance (HA) = 4.0; 5.5; 9.0; 12.5 and 14.0 kg green dry matter per 100 kg liveweight per day (% LW), in association with Nitrogen (N) fertilization levels of 0; 30; 100; 170 and 200 kg ha-1 as urea, The leaf length and leaf area index (LAI) were increased as HA and N levels increased. The tiller density was increased at higher HA where the N contribution showed to be more effective. More lenient grazing also increased leaf life span and leaf lamina length, while N promoted canopy density and reduced leaf life span and number of leaves per tiller. The higher LAI values developed were accomplished by reduced tiller densities that supported small number of leaves per tiller, with increased leaf sizes.
