Theme 14: Advances in Forage Legumes

Description

Amphicarpy is a particular reproduction mechanism by which a plant can produce both above-ground and below-ground seeds and thus has the potential to contribute to an enhanced persistence of a plant population. It can be found in a range of tropical legumes, e.g. in several Centrosema species. The balance between above- and below-ground seed production is evidently influenced by environment and management factors but these influences are not well known. In the case of perennial tropical legumes, in addition to seed production shifts the allocation of resources affects also the production of tuberous roots as storage organs. A research project in El Tigre, Eastern Venezuela, investigates the extent to which resource allocation is influenced by five management (= environmental stress) factors: plant density, associated grass, fertilization, cutting intensity, and fire. The species chosen for this research is Centrosema rotundifolium, a perennial, moderately productive legume which because of its amphicarpy-based persistence and its adaptation to sandy and acid, low-fertility soils has a potential as pasture plant and for soil conservation on sandy savanna soils of the dry-subhumid tropics

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Amphicarpy in the Tropical Legume Centrosema rotundifolium: A Research Project in Eastern Venezuela

Amphicarpy is a particular reproduction mechanism by which a plant can produce both above-ground and below-ground seeds and thus has the potential to contribute to an enhanced persistence of a plant population. It can be found in a range of tropical legumes, e.g. in several Centrosema species. The balance between above- and below-ground seed production is evidently influenced by environment and management factors but these influences are not well known. In the case of perennial tropical legumes, in addition to seed production shifts the allocation of resources affects also the production of tuberous roots as storage organs. A research project in El Tigre, Eastern Venezuela, investigates the extent to which resource allocation is influenced by five management (= environmental stress) factors: plant density, associated grass, fertilization, cutting intensity, and fire. The species chosen for this research is Centrosema rotundifolium, a perennial, moderately productive legume which because of its amphicarpy-based persistence and its adaptation to sandy and acid, low-fertility soils has a potential as pasture plant and for soil conservation on sandy savanna soils of the dry-subhumid tropics