Publication Date
1993
Description
fhe content of annual medic and subclover (Trifo/ium subterraneum) in rasture Leys has been declining in southern Australia over the last decade. The models GROWEST and ASW were used to simulate available soil water, dry matter yield and seed production of a temperate annual pasture legume using actual climatic data for Forbes in 1987-89. GROWEST was also used to predict DM and seed production and the site and composition of the seed bank for the period 1957-89 for the subclover cultivars Dalkeith and Woogenellup. The period 1979-82 consisted of below average seasons with DM yields restricted to below 3000 kg/ha/year. It was largely after this period of drought that clover decline was first observed to be. a problem in eastern Australia in areas reliant on soft-seeded cultivars such as Woogene!lup. GROWEST and the ASW model are a start in developing useful predictive tools so that optimum hard seed levels, maturity and a range of other parameters can be predicted for different environments.
Citation
Blumenthal, M and Ison, R, "Use of Water Balance Models to Examine the role of Climate in Annual Legume Decline in Southern Australia" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 13.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1993/session7/13
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Use of Water Balance Models to Examine the role of Climate in Annual Legume Decline in Southern Australia
fhe content of annual medic and subclover (Trifo/ium subterraneum) in rasture Leys has been declining in southern Australia over the last decade. The models GROWEST and ASW were used to simulate available soil water, dry matter yield and seed production of a temperate annual pasture legume using actual climatic data for Forbes in 1987-89. GROWEST was also used to predict DM and seed production and the site and composition of the seed bank for the period 1957-89 for the subclover cultivars Dalkeith and Woogenellup. The period 1979-82 consisted of below average seasons with DM yields restricted to below 3000 kg/ha/year. It was largely after this period of drought that clover decline was first observed to be. a problem in eastern Australia in areas reliant on soft-seeded cultivars such as Woogene!lup. GROWEST and the ASW model are a start in developing useful predictive tools so that optimum hard seed levels, maturity and a range of other parameters can be predicted for different environments.
