Nutrient efficiency of some grasses and legumes in relation to environmental stress : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agronomy at Massey University

Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for

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private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without

the permission of the Author.

A the s i s present ed in part i al ful fi lment of the requirement s for t he degree of Doctor of Phi lo sophy in Agronomy at ,Ma s sey Univer sity

Robin Stewart Sco t t 1 975

ll

ABSTRACT

Thi s t hesi s p rovi des a defini t i on of rela t i ve nut ri ent ef f i c i enc y ( RNE ) by whi ch sp ec i es and stra i ns of pasture p lants can be di fferent i a t ed in a quant i f i ab le manner according t o the shap e of t he i r response surface

to appli ed nutri ents . A t t ent i on i s drawn t o the fac t that RNE i s under gene t i c c ontrol and to the p robab i li t y that no si ngle casual me c hanism

cont r o ls

RNE

bec ause of the interdep endence of plant p hysi olo gi c a l p roc esses . E xp e riments are rep orted i nvest i ga t i n g the RNE of st rai ns of

Yorkshi re fog ( Holcus lanatus

1.),

p e renni a l rye grass ( L oli um p e renne L . ) , Lotus p enduncula tus Cav . ( S yn _�· uli gi nosis Schkuhr . , L. maj or Sm. ) and whi t e clover ( Tri foli um rep ens

1.).

Ini t i a l exp eri ments exami ned a number of st ra ins of eac h sp ec i es for t he i r RNE in resp onse to N f or t he grasses and P for the le��es . Subsequent exp e ri ments comp a red st ra i ns of b o t h grass sp e c i es i n resp onse t o N and le gume sp eci es i n response t o P t o gether '.-li th the effects of climate . Heasurements were made of dry mat t er yi elds , sho ot:root rati os, N ab sorp t i on and ut i li zat i on , and i n add i t i on f or

le�wnes t he i r N fi xing ac t i vi t y and P absorp t i on and ut i lizat i on .

A f i nal exp eri ment exami ned c li ma t i c parama t e rs affec t i n g RNE o f tvlO st rai ns of whi t e clove r in resp onse to P and thei r rela t i ve abil i t i es t o remob ol i z e and re-uti l i ze N and P i n youn ger c ompared to older t i ssue .

Resu l ts of a l l exp e r i ments showed di fferenc es in RNE among s t ra i ns o f e a c h sp ec i es . T h e y also showed t hat

RNE

i s dep endent upon clima t e , wi t h h i gh

RNE gene rally b e i n g exp ressed under c ondi ti ons mo s t f a'!ourable f o r maxi mum growt h .

A bred strain of Yorkshi re f o g - Massey Basyn , 1·1as found t o p rovi d e hi gh yi elds rela t i v e t o o t he rs a t l ow leve ls of N . This was att r i buted t o i ts greate r abi lity t o absorb and uti lize N . Among p e renn i al ryegrasses Jvlan gere s t r a i n p ossessed lm.r RNE unde r a 1 5/1 0°C day/night temp e ra ture and 200 vlm2 li ght intensi ty due t o i ts i nab i li ty to absorb N through rest r i c t ed root development . Comp ari son of t he most eff i c i ent strai ns of Yorkshi re f o g and p e re1mi a l rye grass showed that t he y did not d i ffer in RNE and i t i s c oncluded that the 'low f e rt i l i ty' c lassi fi ca t i on of Yorkshi re f o g i s unwa rrant ed .

T he i n i t i al e xperi ment wi t h Lotus i dent i f i ed st rai ns d i fferi ng i n

RNE

but t h i s f i nding was not c onfi rmed i n t he sub seq uent exp e ri ment . A strai n of whi t e c love r from t he Netherlands ( T amar) v1as found i n two experi ments t o have hi gh RK2 through p rovi ding high yi elds at medium to h i gh levels of P . In the f i nal e xp e r i ment where Tamar was c omp ared vli t h Hui a whi t e c love r , i ts grea t e r RNE

wa s due t o a greater abi l i ty t o absorb and uti l i ze N and P, t o r emobol i ze N and P from o lder to younger t i s sue and to mobo l i ze so luble sugar s from

shoot s to root s .

Compari son o f the mo st effic ient strains o f whi t e c lover and Lotus showed tha t the former re sponded bet t e r to high leve l s of P .

I t i s conc luded from thi s ser i e s o f experiment s that gene t i c var i abi l ity exi st s among t he speci e s s tudi ed and t ha t the ir di ffering RNE could be

explo i t ed to bring about economie s in t he use of fert i l i zer s .

I .

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wi she s to acknowledge t he Minis try of Agricultur e and

Fisher i e s for the provi s ion of a study awar d which enabled thi s s tudy to be undertaken .

Grateful thanks i s given to Profe s sor B . R . Wa tkin , Agronomy Department , Mas sey Univer si ty and Dr R . H . Jackman , Gra s s lands D ivi sion for the very help ful advice and support given throughout t hi s study .

The a s s i stance o f Mr A . Hardacre and hi s staff of P lant Phy s i o l ogy

Divi s ion and that o f various member s of t he staff o f the Agronomy D epar tment , Mas sey Univer sity in the conduct of exper iment s i s acknowl edged. S o a l so i s the a s s i st ance o f D r R . Ha z lewood o f P l ant Physiology D i vi sion for comp letion

of the sugar analyse s , Mr P . Nes o f G�a s s land s D i vi sion and Mr J . L . Gr igg of Invermay Agricultural Re search Centre for comp let i on of some of the N and P analy se s .

The author wi she s to record hi s appreciat ion t o Dr G . J . Jowe t t and Mr P . Johnstone of Invermay Agr icultural Re search Centre for the advi c e and

a s s i stance wi th the stati stical analyse s .

TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES SECTION ¹

" 2

" 3

" 4

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES LITERATURE REVIEW

(i} Nutr ient e f f i c i ency

(i i) Factor s cont ro l l ing nutrient uptake . (a) Nutr ient avai lab i l ity

(b) Root morpho logy

(c) Ni trogen and pho sphat e ion absorpt ion by plant root s .

(d) Entry o f nutr i ent ion s into p l ant ce l l s .

1 1 2 1 3 14 14 14 1 6

1 7 (e) Micro -organ i sms and ion absorpt ion . 21 (f) E f fect s o f p l ant environment ²³ (i ii) Translocat ion of me tabo l ites and the

sourc e - s ink concept of di str ibution . (iv) Conclusions

EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS AND METHODS (i) Introduct ion

27 34 35 36 (i i) Growth medium and pott ing procedure ^{3 6}

(ii i) Basal nutrient s 3 7

(iv) Seed germinat ion , inoculat ion and p lant ing 37

(v} Moi sture regime s 3 7

(vi) Environment s 38

(vU.) Analyt ical ₃₉

( a ) Nitrogen f i xing act ivi ty 39

(b) Harve sting 40

(c) Carbon , nitrogen , pho sphorus and

sugar analyse s ⁴¹

(viii) S ta t i st ical ana lyses 41

SCREENING GRASSES AND LEGUMES FOR RELATIVE NUTRI ENT EFFICIENCY

General Introduct ion

EXPERIMENT ^1. Re lat ive nutrient efficiency o f strains of Yorkshire fog in re sponse t o app l ied nitrogen and pho sphorus

42 43

45

SECTION 4 (Ctd)

11 5

Introduction Exper imenta l

Re sul t s and di scus sion

EXPERIMENT 2 . Relat ive nutr ient e f f i c iency of stra ins of perennia l ryegrass in re sponse t o app l ied nitrogen and pho sphorus

Introduct ion Experiment al

Re sul t s and di scus�ion

EXPERIMENT 3 . Re lat ive nutrient e f f i c i ency o f strains of Lotus pendunculatus in re sponse

Page

46 47 48

50

51

52

53

to app l ied pho sphorus .57

Introduct ion 57

E xper imental 57

Re sult s and di scus s i on ⁵⁸

EXPERIMENT 4. Re lat ive nutrient effic iency of stra ins of whi t e clover in response to

app l ied pho sphorus Introduct ion

Experimental

Re sul t s and di scus s ion

INTER AND INTRASPEC IFIC COMPARISONS OF E FFICIENT GRAS SES AND LEGUMES UNDER THREE CLIMATIC REGIMES

General int roduction

EXPERIMENT 5 . Relat i ve nutrient effic iency of Yorkshire fog and perennial ryegra s s in re sponse to app l ied nit rogen

Introduction Experimental

Re sult s and d i scu s s i on Conc lusions

EXPERIMENT 6 . Re lat i ve nutrient e f f ic iency of whi t e c lover and Lotus in re sponse to app l ied phosphorus

63 64 64 65

7 2 7 3

74 75 75 76

89

90

SECTION 5 (Ctd)

" 6

" 7

APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY

Introduct ion Experimental Re sult s Discuss ion Conc lus ions

EXPERIMENT 7 . A study of t he source - s ink concept in relat ion to t he relative

nutrient e f fic iency of Huia and Tamar white c lover

Introduct i on Experimental Re sult s D iscus sion Conc lusions

GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

90 91 92 1 07 1 1 4

1 1 5 1 1 6 1 1 7 1 1 8 1 3 7 1 47 1 48 156 1 7 2

Fig . 1 .

Fig . 2 .

F i g . 3 .

Fig . 4 . Fig . 5 . Fig. 6 . F i g . 7 .

Fig. 8 .

Fig . 9 .

. Li s t o f Figur e s

Typ i f ied eff i c i ency i n ab sorpt ion and ut i l i zation of app l ied nut rient and effect on yie l d .

Typ ified type s o f RNE i n y i e ld , absorpt ion and ut i l i zat ion . Dry mat ter yields of s t rains of Lotus according to leve l o f P u s ing f i t t e d va lue s .

Fitted curve s for P absorp t ion and ut i l i zation by stra in s of Lotu s according to leve l of P .

Dry matter yields o f strains of whi te c lover according to leve l of P using fi tted valu� s .

Fitted curve s for P ab sorp t i on and ut i l i zat i on by strains o f whi t e clover accord ing to leve l of P .

F i t t ed curve s for shoot dry matter yields o f perennial ryegrass under the Pa lmer ston North c l imate , retrans forrned from ln yie l d s and JN app l i ed .

Ab sorpt ion and ut i l i zat ion of N by stra ins o f perennial ryegrass and Yorkshire fog in response to N under the Pa lmer ston North c l imat e .

Fitted curve s for shoot dry matter yie lds o f pe rennial ryegras s under the Taieri c l imat e , retransforrned from ln yields and

.fN app lied.

Fig. 10 . Absorpt ion and ut i l i zat ion of N by strains o f perennial ryegrass and Yorkshi re fog in re sponse t o N under the Taier i c l imate using f itted value s transformed from ln value s .

F i g . 1 1 . Dry matter yie lds of shoot s of white clove r stra ins in re sponse to app l ied P under the Tar a Hi 11 s c l imate .

F ig . 1 2 . Dry matter yie ld s of shoo t s + root s o f whi t e clover and Lotus in response to app l ied P under the Tara Hi l l s c l imate .

F i g . 1 3 . P absorpt ion and ut i l i zat i on by whi te c lover and Lotus under t he Tara Hi l l s cl imate us ing fitted value s .

Fig . 1 4 . P ab sorption and ut i l i zation by whit e clover and Lotus under the Palmer ston North c l imat e using f i t ted value s .

Fig . 1 5 . P ab sorpt ion and ut i l i zat i on by whit e clover and Lotus under

Page

8 10 59 6 1 6 7 -68 70 -71

82

84

86

87 9 5 9 7 101 102

t he Taier i c l imate u sing f i t ted value s . 103 Fig . 1 6 . F i t ted value s for e t hy lene product ion by white c love r and

Lot us in re sponse to app l i e d P under t he Tara Hi l l s c l imat e . 106 Fig. 1 7 . N absorpt ion and uti l i zat i on by white clover and Lotu s under

t he Tara Hi l l s c l imat e using fitted value s .

Fig . 1 8 . N ab sorpt ion and ut i l i zat ion by white c lover and Lotus under the Palmer ston Nort h u sing· f itted val ue s .

Fig. 1 9 . Diagrammatic sketch o f a sto lon uni t o f white c lover showing t he method of samp l ing ' po s it i on s ' and ' st ructure s ' .

1 10 1 1 1 1 1 9