Publication Date

1993

Description

Plots of endophyte-infected and endophyte-free perennial ryegrass (Lollum perenne) cv. Ellett and white clover (Trifolium repens) cv, Grasslands Pitau were established in autumn 1990 by direct drilling into pastures previously sprayed with glyphosate herbicide. Plots were rotationally grazed by dairy cows. Insect pests were sampled by soil coring and extraction, and plant pathogenic nematodes by root staining and examination. Ryegrass tiller density and the proportion of ryegrass in the swards were-significantly less in November, March and May on plots sown with endophyte-free ryegrass c_ompared with endophyte-infected ryegrass. Conversely, the propo!'tion __ of white clover was greater on endophyte-free plots during the summer. Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis (Kuschel)) adult and black beetle (Heteronychus orator F.) larval populations were smaller on endophyte-infected ryegrass plots, although black beetle adult activity in spring, as measured by pitfall traps, was similar on both ryegrass treatments. Populations of other insect pests were not affected by the presence or absence of endophyte infection in the sown ryegrass. There was no apparent endophyte effect on plant pathogenic nematodes of ryegrass or white clover, and it was not possible to separate any endophyte effects on nematode genera from other factors which influenced ryegrass vigour and survival, and the ryegrass­white clover balance in the pasture,

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Invertebrate Pests of Endophyte-Infected and Endophyte Free Perennial Ryegrass Swards in Northern New Zealand

Plots of endophyte-infected and endophyte-free perennial ryegrass (Lollum perenne) cv. Ellett and white clover (Trifolium repens) cv, Grasslands Pitau were established in autumn 1990 by direct drilling into pastures previously sprayed with glyphosate herbicide. Plots were rotationally grazed by dairy cows. Insect pests were sampled by soil coring and extraction, and plant pathogenic nematodes by root staining and examination. Ryegrass tiller density and the proportion of ryegrass in the swards were-significantly less in November, March and May on plots sown with endophyte-free ryegrass c_ompared with endophyte-infected ryegrass. Conversely, the propo!'tion __ of white clover was greater on endophyte-free plots during the summer. Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis (Kuschel)) adult and black beetle (Heteronychus orator F.) larval populations were smaller on endophyte-infected ryegrass plots, although black beetle adult activity in spring, as measured by pitfall traps, was similar on both ryegrass treatments. Populations of other insect pests were not affected by the presence or absence of endophyte infection in the sown ryegrass. There was no apparent endophyte effect on plant pathogenic nematodes of ryegrass or white clover, and it was not possible to separate any endophyte effects on nematode genera from other factors which influenced ryegrass vigour and survival, and the ryegrass­white clover balance in the pasture,