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The effect of temperature on the spring growth of perennial ryegrass at three contrasting sites
Author(s) -
BAKER ANNEMARIE,
YOUNGER A.
Publication year - 1986
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.1365-2494.1986.tb01801.x
Subject(s) - spring (device) , perennial plant , environmental science , growth rate , agronomy , drainage , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , ecology , biology , mathematics , mechanical engineering , geometry , geotechnical engineering , engineering
The effect of temperature on the spring growth of perennial ryegrass swards was studied at three contrasting sites. Two of these were situated on land restored after opencast coal mining, one of which had been drained. The third was on undisturbed land of the same soil type. Rates of leaf extension were measured in an attempt to give an early indication of differences in plant growth in the spring of 1982. Spring growth started earliest on undisturbed land. On the restored land drainage proved beneficial, for although the onset of growth was delayed compared to the undisturbed site the subsequent rates of growth were similar. Both the onset and the rate of growth were slower on the undrained site. Highly significant relationships existed between leaf extension rate and soil temperature at each site. However, when sites were compared, differences in soil temperature could only partly explain observed differences in growth rate between sites. It was concluded that some factor other than soil temperature was responsible for the difference in spring growth between the undisturbed site and the undrained opencast site in this experiment.