Comparative Turfgrass Evapotranspiration Rates and Associated Plant Morphological Characteristics

Abstract

Since water costs are projected to increase substantially, and water availability for turfgrass culture will become more limiting, there is a need for a detailed characterization of water use rates among turfgrass species. The evapotranspiration (ET) rates of 11 C‐4 warm‐season turfgrasses and one C‐3 cool‐season turfgrass were evaluated in minilysimeters with fritted clay as the rooting medium utilizing the water balance method. Turf plots of 1.5 × 1.5 m were constructed to ensure a natural environment surrounding each lysimeter. Evapotranspiration rates plus six morphological characteristics of each species were measured under nonlimiting soil moisture. Significant differences in ET rates were observed both among and within genera. ‘Texas Common’ buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm], ‘Georgia Common’ centipedegrass [Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro.) Hack], ‘Arizona Common’ bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.], ‘Tifgreen’ and ‘Tifway’ bermudagrasses [C. dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Davy], and ‘Adalayd’ seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Sw.) had low ET rates; while ‘Emerald’ zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud. × Z. tenuifolia Willd. ex Trin.) was characterized as having a medium ET rate. ‘Texas Common’ St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] and ‘Meyer’ zoysiagrass (Z. japonica Steud.) possessed medium low ET rates. However, a 1‐yr study showed that ‘Kentucky 31’ tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and ‘Argentine’ bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugg.) had medium ET rates, and ‘Common’ blue grama [Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Steud.] possessed a medium low ET rate. Those grasses with comparatively lower ET rates were generally characterized by (i) a high canopy resistance, including a high shoot density and relatively horizontal leaf orientation; and (ii) a low leaf area, including a slow vertical leaf extension rate and a narrow leaf texture.

Crop Coefficients, Growth Rates and Quality of Cool‐Season Turfgrasses

“…It used more water on the green than on the fairway during the first day after irrigation back to FC and approximately the same amount of water on subsequent days. Red fescues are usually considered to be among the more drought resistant turfgrasses because of their fine leaves (Kim and Beard , Fry and Huang ), but our data, along with those of Blankenship (), suggest that the water‐saving effect of narrow leaves becomes less important at low mowing heights. Our data also showed considerable variation among the cultivars representing various subspecies of red fescue, especially on the fairway where slender creeping red fescue ‘Barcrown’ and strong creeping red fescue ‘Celianna’ transpired significantly more water on the first day after irrigation back to FC than chewings fescue ‘Center’.…”

Drought Response and Recovery Characteristics of St. Augustinegrass Cultivars

“…Seven cultivars of St. Augustinegrass (SA) [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kim and Beard (1988) and Atkins et al (1991) assessed evapotranspiration rates across SA genotypes, but drought response data were not collected. Using digital image analysis, drought response and recovery were quantifi ed as the number of days to decrease or increase to 50% green ground cover, respectively.…”

Performance of warm-season turfgrasses under different water regimes in the Mediterranean climate conditions of Southern Italy

“…Many researches have addressed the differences of evapotranspiration between cool-season and warm-season grasses under different climate conditions (Kim and Beard, 1988;Kopec et al, 1988;Zhang et al, 2007). For several warm-season species, Carrow (1996) and Huang et al (1997aHuang et al ( , 1997b) studied the relation between drought tolerance and the depth of their root systems.…”