Abstract
Single species spaced-plant clonal nurseries are useful in the first stage of selection to develop forage crop cultivars for semiarid and arid environment pastures. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify the degree of stability of forage yield of individual alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) clones when grown with five associate species and (2) to examine the relationships of alfalfa and the associate species in the determination of total plot forage yield in a spaced-plant nursery with a stand density comparable to that of natural plant communities on semiarid rangelands. One hundred plants of NC-83-1 alfalfa were vegetatively propagated and grown in a replicated spaced-plant selection nursery in association with Fairway crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertner s. lat.), Oahe intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium [Host] Barkworth & D. R. Dewey), RS-2 hybrid wheatgrass (Elytrigia repens [L.] Nevski × Pseudoroegneria spicata [Pursh]Löve), Vinall Russian wildrye (Psathyrostachys juncea [Fisch.] Nevski), and NC-83-1 alfalfa. Plants were spaced 0.5-m apart on a rectangular grid in which eight plants of an associated species surrounded each alfalfa plant. Forage yield per plant was measured in four harvests each year during the 2nd and 3rd years following establishment. Alfalfa was the most competitive associated species. Rhizomatous grasses were more competitive to alfalfa than were bunchgrasses. Some clones were phenotypically more stable than others. The degree of stability was inversely, but weakly, associated with the amount of alfalfa forage produced. Alfalfa plant yield was negatively related to yield of the associate species. This compensatory effect tended to stabilize total plot forage yield. Simultaneous selection of range forage species may best be accomplished in nurseries in which a grass and a legume are interplanted at a density and in a pattern that simulates the competitive relations occurring in semiarid environments. Key words: Competition, grass, Medicago, plant breeding, pasture, range
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Alfalfa was the most competitive associated species.
- Taxon
- alfalfa
Medicago sativae0 - Outcome
- most competitive associated speciese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Alfalfa was the most competitive associated species.”
Claim · model-written summary
Rhizomatous grasses competed more strongly with alfalfa than bunchgrasses.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Interactor
- Rhizomatous grassese0other
- Outcome
- competitive to alfalfae0
- Direction
- more competitivee0
- Comparator
- bunchgrassese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Rhizomatous grasses were more competitive to alfalfa than were bunchgrasses.”
Claim · model-written summary
Some alfalfa clones had greater phenotypic stability than others.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativat0
- Material
- clonese0
- Outcome
- phenotypically more stablee0
- Direction
- more stablee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Some clones were phenotypically more stable than others.”
t0“alfalfa clones”
Claim · model-written summary
Alfalfa forage production was weakly and inversely associated with stability.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Outcome
- degree of stabilitye0
- Direction
- inverselye0
- Qualifier
- weaklye0
- Comparator
- amount of alfalfa forage producede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The degree of stability was inversely, but weakly, associated with the amount of alfalfa forage produced.”
Claim · model-written summary
Alfalfa plant yield was negatively related to associate-species yield.
- Taxon
- AlfalfaMedicago sativae0
- Interactor
- associate speciese0other
- Outcome
- Alfalfa plant yielde0
- Direction
- negatively relatede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Alfalfa plant yield was negatively related to yield of the associate species.”
Claim · model-written summary
Compensation between alfalfa and associate-species yield tended to stabilize total plot forage yield.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativat0
- Outcome
- stabilize total plot forage yielde0
- Qualifier
- compensatory effecte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This compensatory effect tended to stabilize total plot forage yield.”
t0“alfalfa clones”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend simultaneous selection in interplanted grass-legume nurseries that simulate semiarid competition.
- Taxon
- alfalfaMedicago sativat0
- Outcome
- Simultaneous selection of range forage speciese0
- Qualifier
- a grass and a legume are interplanted at a density and in a pattern that simulates the competitive relations occurring in semiarid environmentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Simultaneous selection of range forage species may best be accomplished in nurseries in which a grass and a legume are interplanted at a density and in a pattern that simulates the competitive relations occurring in semiarid environments.”
t0“alfalfa clones”