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Analysis of adaptation of grass/legume mixtures to Italian alpine and subalpine zones through an additive main effects and multiplicative interaction model
Author(s) -
ANNICCHIARICO P.,
BOZZO F.,
PARENTE G.,
GUSMEROLI F.,
MAIR V.,
MARGUERETTAZ O.,
ORLANDI D.
Publication year - 1995
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.1365-2494.1995.tb02335.x
Subject(s) - legume , interaction , forage , agronomy , montane ecology , yield (engineering) , mathematics , biology , zoology , ecology , materials science , metallurgy
Fourteen grass/legume mixtures, mostly including white clover or lucerne, in association with a variable number of other forage species were grown at six Italian alpine and subalpine locations under a mowing regime. The response of the mixtures in terms of dry‐matter (DM) yield and visually estimated legume percentage over the second and third years of crop cycle was investigated through an additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analytical model. Locations and mixture‐location interaction effects were significant whereas mixture was not. The interaction effect was very large, and the first two interaction principal component (PC) axes were significant at P<0·001. PC 1 accounted for 88% and 92% of the interaction variation for DM yield and legume percentage respectively. Both for sites and for mixtures, the ordination on PC 1 for these variables was very similar, indicating that the interaction effects for DM yield tended to parallel those for legume percentage. The adaptive response of the mixtures mainly depended on the response of their legume components. White clover was specifically adapted to locations with high soil clay content, probably through better tolerance to the associated severe waterlogging. Lucerne performed relatively better at high‐yielding, favourable sites, probably because of its greater competitive ability than associated grasses under conditions that emphasize competitive effects. Minor interaction effects were related to the response of cocksfoot and timothy, the latter being indispensable for high DM yield of mixtures at high‐elevation, cool‐summer sites. No clear advantage of having a high number of components in the mixture was apparent, and it was concluded that the association of timothy and cocksfoot with one legume should be adequate for most situations in the given region.