Premium
A Clonal Competition Experiment with Alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. 1
Author(s) -
Rumbaugh M. D.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1970.00021962006200010017x
Subject(s) - propagule , biology , competition (biology) , transplanting , clone (java method) , medicago sativa , agronomy , forage , population , botany , horticulture , sowing , ecology , demography , dna , genetics , sociology
Two levels of competition were tested with spaced plantings of 83 clones of ‘Vernal’ alfalfa. Homocompetition was defined as a propagule of a clone competing against other propagules of the same clone whereas heterocompetition was a propagule of a clone competing against propagules of any other clone randomly extracted from the same source population. Plant characteristics evaluated were dry forage weight, crown width, stem length, and stem number. No strong evidence supporting the existence of differences between the two competition levels was found. A clone ✕ competition level interaction was detected. Examination of the association between competing plants and their bordering plants suggested unequal propagule development and unknowing selection of the most vigorous and largest propagules for the center subplot positions at the time of transplanting.