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Effects of Ice Covers in the Field on Two Perennial Grasses 1
Author(s) -
Beard James B.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1965.0011183x000500020011x
Subject(s) - citation , library science , agricultural experiment station , crop , state (computer science) , perennial plant , computer science , biology , history , agriculture , archaeology , ecology , algorithm
T HE effects of ice sheets on winter survival of perennial grasses are not well defined. Considerable variation occurs in the injury exhibited by different plants which is apparently dependent on the type or duration of ice cover. In contrast to a previous study (1) in which segments the environment were controlled, this study was conducted under field conditions. The objective was to investigate the response of common Kentucky bluegrass and Toronto creeping bentgrass to: (I) a direct ice cover, (II) an layer over snow, and (III) a slush which was compacted and then frozen. Bugaevskii and Zitnikova (3) reported that winter wheat plants under an ice crust showed injury on the 23rd day with complete kill occurring in 45 to 54 days at --1 to --9° C. Death was attributed to oxygen starvation. Sprague and Graber (4) and Sprague and Graber (5) working with hardened alfalfa frozen and maintained in ice blocks at --3° C. found injury after 12 days and complete kill after 20 to 26 days. Studies in which alfalfa roots and crowns were stored in ice, water, and various gaseous media led them to conclude that the accumulation of carbon dioxide or other respiratory products under ice was the primary factor in kill of alfalfa and not the absence of oxygen. Investigation by Vasil’yev (6) showed winter rye survived for three months under an ice crest. No injurious effects directly attributed to natural ice sheets were observed on winter grains, clover, and alfalfa. Tumanov (6) reported ice to be quite permeable to air and thus questioned the suffocation of plants under ice. Controlled environment studies by Beard (1) showed Toronto creeping bentgrass to have a high tolerance to ice covers for a period of 90 days at 25 ° F. Also, no significant kill of common Kentucky bluegrass and annual bluegrass was observed during the initial 60 days of ice coverage with kill at the end of 90 days not exceeding 60’% and 50’%, respectively.