Morphogenetic adaptation to defoliation and soil fertility in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

Morphogenetic adaptation, plasticity, and mortality of four perennial ryegrass populations, representing different selection histories, were compared in response to soil fertility and to defoliation severity. In a second experiment, morphogenetic adaptation and plasticity in response to defoliation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNew Zealand journal of agricultural research Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 1 - 12
Main Authors Hazard, L., Barker, D. J., Easton, H. S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Taylor & Francis Group 2001
Royal Society of New Zealand
Subjects
hill country
leaf growth
Life Sciences
Lolium perenne
mortality
plasticity
tiller density
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Summary:Morphogenetic adaptation, plasticity, and mortality of four perennial ryegrass populations, representing different selection histories, were compared in response to soil fertility and to defoliation severity. In a second experiment, morphogenetic adaptation and plasticity in response to defoliation frequency were studied in two divergent sub-populations. Genetic variability was found between ryegrass populations for leaf appearance and elongation rates, leaf size, and tiller number. All populations exhibited plasticity in response to defoliation severity and soil fertility. There was no genetic variation for plasticity, the morphological response to the environment. Morphogenetic differences between populations remained constant across environments and resulted in differential mortality under the most severe defoliation. Both leaf length and rate of leaf appearance were positively correlated with greater mortality. The ryegrass ideotype for hill country is a compromise between yield and persistence.
ISSN:0028-8233
1175-8775
DOI:10.1080/00288233.2001.9513456