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Growth and Seed Production of Nordan Crested Wheatgrass in a Modified Corn Wheel 1
Author(s) -
Keller Wesley,
Bleak Alvin T.
Publication year - 1974
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/cropsci1974.0011183x001400010035x
Subject(s) - biology , competition (biology) , agronomy , perennial plant , degree (music) , clone (java method) , horticulture , botany , ecology , dna , physics , genetics , acoustics
Studies were conducted with ‘Nordan’ crested wheatgrass ( Agropyron desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schult.) for 3 years to determine effects of competition on seed yield, seed size, and plant growth in a corn wheel modified to vary space per plant. Six mature plants were cloned, and these were grown, without irrigation, in two replications in the corn wheel. Five ramets of a single clone were spaced on a logarithmic scale in each pieshaped segment of the wheel at positions from the center of 1.1 m (severe competition) to 5.7 m (little competition). After 3 years, there was a significant interaction for height between clones and degree of competition. The degree of competition had considerably more effect on plant circumference than on height. Significant differences occurred among clones in the mean number of spikes produced, and in the third year the differences in number of spikes by degree of competition was also significant within clones. The six clones differed greatly in total seed yield, and the clone by degree‐of‐competition interaction was significant each year. The six clones differed significantly in weight/100 seeds, which, within each clone, was significantly reduced as competition increased. The corn wheel pattern is suitable for studying the effects of competition on perennial grasses.