Carbohydrate Content of Underground Parts of Grasses as Affected by Clipping

Kinsinger, Floyd E.; Hopkins, H. H.

doi:10.2307/3894824

Cited by 28 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Repeated defoliation of warm-season grasses has been reported to have carryover effects from year to year (Kinsinger and Hopkins, 1961;Forwood and Magai, 1992). The decrease in TNC between December and April differed among years increasing linearly (Table 5) and was consistent with responses noted above for basal stems and crowns.…”

Section: Rootssupporting

confidence: 78%

Grazing Management of Flaccidgrass Pastures in Autumn

Burns

Fisher

2012

Crop Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Carostan' flaccidgrass {Pennisetum flaccidumGriseb.) is a perennial warm-season grass with potential for pasture, but appropriate autumn (September to November) management is needed to maintain forage mass (FM) production and prevent declines in plant density. We evaluated 10 treatments over 3 yr consisting of an ungrazed control, four treatments with multiple grazing events (MG), four treatments with a single grazing event (SG), and one treatment grazed after frost. The winter residues after the treatments were greatest (P < 0.01) when ungrazed compared with the grazed treatments (3347 vs. 2265 kg ha"'') and differed (P < 0.01) among and between (P < 0.01) the MG and SG treatments. Plant density decreased from 13 to 27% with 8 to 10 wk of regrowth before frost. Greater plant density decline (60%) occurred when plots were grazed three times and only allowed 4 wk of regrowth before frost. Total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) of ungrazed basal stems, crowns, and roots sampled in December were 158, 193, and 250 g kg-\ respectively, and when grazed were 124, 183, and 253 g kg-\ respectively. By April TNC had declined 56, 35, and 25%, respectively. Plant density was not related to autumn total FM, FM regrowth, or overwintering residue but was related (P < 0.02) to TNC of December roots (r = 0.59) and TNC of April basal stems (r = 0.42), crowns (r = 0.61), and roots (r = 0.66). Allowing 6 wk of regrowth before frost minimized plant density losses for flaccidgrass.

show abstract

Section: Rootssupporting

confidence: 78%

Grazing Management of Flaccidgrass Pastures in Autumn

Burns

Fisher

2012

Crop Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…3, F individual plant productivity by increasing photosynthetic rates or growth of photosynthetically-active leaf tissue (Wareing et al 1968), extending photosynthetic capabilities in ageing leaves (Gifford and Marshall 1973), translocating nutrients from below ground to above ground (Kinsinger and Shaulis 1961), and lowering respiratory costs through a reduction of transpiring surfaces (Baker and Hunt 1961). While these plant responses may occur in individual plants, they are likely to be mediated by the physical and biological consequences of specific defoliation events that occur at the community scale.…”

Section: Defoliated Subplots In Grazing Enclosuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defoliation increased above-ground productivity in a semi-arid grassland

Loeser¹,

Crews²,

Sisk³

2004

REM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In light of the continuing debate regarding overcompensation we studied the responses of above -ground biomass in a high -elevation, semi -arid grassland to defoliation, defoliation history, and livestock grazing. The above -ground annual net primary productivity (ANPP) was measured over 2 years in one -hundred twenty, 1 -m2 plots that were exposed to single-and multi -year defoliation and grazing treatments. Plant communities showed an average increase in ANPP of 31 %-45% due to a single defoliation event.The most conservative estimate of average ANPP of defoliated subplots was 29.4 g In-2 greater than the non -defoliated controls. A history of defoliation, due to clipping or grazing, lessened the magnitude of the compensatory response, but above-ground overcompensation of biomass was still observed, ranging on average from 17% to 26 %. One dominant species, squirreltail grass [Elymus elymoides (Raf.) Swezeyi], accounted for nearly one -third of the community -level increases in ANPP. In contrast to above -ground patterns, below -ground root production of squirreltail did not increase in response to defoliation events.These results suggest that the above -ground production of highelevation, semi -arid grasslands in the American Southwest may be temporarily increased through certain grazing events, and may help explain shifts in species dominance in grasslands exposed to long -term grazing by livestock.Key Words: high -elevation grasslands, ANPP, overcompensation, clipping, root biomass, western wheatgrass, squirreltailThe hypothesis that certain plant species can respond to a defoliation event, such as grazing by an herbivore, in a manner that increases their reproductive fitness or productivity has recently attained greater acceptance in the scientific literature (Strauss and Agrawal 1999, Agrawal 2000). This response has been called "overcompensation" (Owen 1980, Owen and Wiegert 1976, 1981 to signify that production exceeds the level needed toWe gratefully acknowledge the assistance of S. Mezulis, L. Taylor, Z. Bayham, R. Rieder, G. Kendall, J. Chirco, J. White, T. Muñoz, and J. Battin in collecting these data. In addition we thank the Diablo Trust, Flying M Ranch, and the Peaks and Mormon Lake Districts of the Coconino National Forest for their participation in this collaborative research effort. This manuscript has benefited from the comments of two anonymous reviewers, the Sisk lab group, and specifically Brad McRae, Lisa Taylor, and Sharon Mezulis. This study has been supported through funding from Northern Arizona University, Merriam Powell Center for Environmental Research, and the Ecological Restoration Institute.Manuscript accepted 21 Feb. 04. ResumenA raíz del debate continuo respecto a la sobrecompensación estudiamos las respuestas de la biomasa aérea a la defoliación en una elevación alta de un pastizal semi -árido, al historial de defoliación y al apacentamiento por ganado. La productividad primaria neta anual aérea (ANPP) se midió en dos años en 120 parcelas de 1 In-2 que fueron expues...

show abstract

“…The decrease in the amounts or concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates following defoliation implies a causal role for these compounds in initiating regrowth (Kinsinger & Hopkins 1961;Weinmann 1961;Trlica & Cook, 1971;White 1973). Differences in carbohydrate concentrations between plant species, or between defoliation treatments of the same species, may explain variations in recovery rates following defoliation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%