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Effect of after‐treatments on sward composition and the establishment of introduced species following the control of bracken
Author(s) -
SPARKE C. J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1985.tb01771.x
Subject(s) - agronomy , lolium perenne , festuca rubra , biology , sowing , trifolium repens , festuca , litter , growing season , grassland , poaceae
After bracken control with asulam the surface litter was removed by raking, burning or incorporation, or left in situ as a control. The proportion of grasses in the sward and the grass net herbage production was not significantly different on the four litter treatments 1 or 2 years after spraying. Lime, phosphate and seed of Trifolium repens, Lolium perenne and Festuca rubra were applied to a similar set of four litter treatments. T. repens failed to establish in quantity on any treatment. A long period of dry weather following sowing may have been the initial reason, with competition from the established, more vigorous grasses subsequently being of importance. The sown grasses established most successfully where competition from the existing indigenous species had been removed by burning or incorporation of the litter and surface vegetation. Although these two treatments differed little in the proportion of sown grasses in the sward in the second season, the net herbage production of Lolium and Festuca was significantly higher on the incorporated than the burnt treatment. Net herbage production of these two grasses in the second season was significantly higher on the incorporated and the burnt treatments than it was on the control. After 2 years, total grass net herbage production was significantly greater on these two treatments than on the unfertilized, unlimed and unseeded control.