Publication Date
1985
Location
Kyoto Japan
Description
Efforts to develop varieties of buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) with more females (up to 70%) than males have been based on the assumptions that 1) the female is a better forage plant, and 2) a female bias will result in greater seed production. These hypotheses are currently being tested in both field and greenhouse evaluations, using a wild population from the Oklahoma panhandle and a cultivar ofTexas-Oklahoma-Kansas origin. For both populations, males and females did not differ significantly, either in total biomass or in relative biomass allocation to stolons or reproductive culms. Field observations produced no evidence for sex-linked differences in palatability. Although a significant female bias can lead to greater seed production in seed increase plots, the current available evidence (on pollen dispersal, variability among males and females in time of flowering, and herbivore removal of male culms) suggests that this female bias can result in a reduced seed set under rangeland conditions.
Citation
Quinn, James A., "Validity of Breeding for a Female Bias in the Dioecious Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides)" (1985). IGC Proceedings (1985-2023). 42.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1985/ses2/42)
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Validity of Breeding for a Female Bias in the Dioecious Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides)
Kyoto Japan
Efforts to develop varieties of buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) with more females (up to 70%) than males have been based on the assumptions that 1) the female is a better forage plant, and 2) a female bias will result in greater seed production. These hypotheses are currently being tested in both field and greenhouse evaluations, using a wild population from the Oklahoma panhandle and a cultivar ofTexas-Oklahoma-Kansas origin. For both populations, males and females did not differ significantly, either in total biomass or in relative biomass allocation to stolons or reproductive culms. Field observations produced no evidence for sex-linked differences in palatability. Although a significant female bias can lead to greater seed production in seed increase plots, the current available evidence (on pollen dispersal, variability among males and females in time of flowering, and herbivore removal of male culms) suggests that this female bias can result in a reduced seed set under rangeland conditions.
