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Quantitative Removal of Major Nutrients by Three Pasture Grasses 1
Author(s) -
Duell Robert W.,
Trout J. Richard
Publication year - 1972
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/agronj1972.00021962006400060009x
Subject(s) - festuca arundinacea , dactylis glomerata , pasture , poa pratensis , poaceae , agronomy , dry matter , zoology , fertilizer , phosphorus , yield (engineering) , festuca rubra , field experiment , nutrient , biology , chemistry , ecology , materials science , organic chemistry , metallurgy
On the premise that fertilizer needs might be better understood if plant removal were known, the yield of N, P, and K was recorded for 15 harvests of field plots over 3 years. Tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), Kentucky bluegrass ( Poa pratensis L.), and orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.) plots were replicated times and were split to receive annual applications of A, 224‐98‐186 (kg/ha of N‐P‐K) half in spring, half in summer); B, 224‐0‐0 (scheduled as A); and C, 112‐49‐93 (spring only). In individual harvests these grasses frequently differed in yield; percent N, percent P, and weight of N, P, and K removed. Combined analyses (five harvests/year for 3 years) confirmed differences among species in yield and percent N and P; in weight of elements removed by species, however, only the lower quantity of P removed by Kentucky blyuegrass was significantly different, averaging 50% less than the other grasses. The decrease in K removal from NH 4 NO 3 at 224‐0‐0 vs 224‐98‐186 was greater than decreases in removal of N, P, or dry matter. Seasonal and annual decreases in K were consistent. When element removal was calculated as annual yield ✕ mean percentage of the element rather than the sum of the products of plot yield ✕ plot composition, significantly lower mean values for N and K (4.2 and 5.0% lower, respectively) were obtained. N and K percentages were significantly correlated with DM yields. Phosphorus percentage values did not correlate with DM yields. The discrepancy between the actual weight of P removed (by a grass at a fertilizer treatment in a given year) and the short‐cut calculation might be either positive or negative; a comparison between such extreme values would lead to large errors.