Sowing Depth and Soil Water Effects on Seedling Emergence and Root Morphology of Three Warm‐Season Grasses

Roundy, Bruce A.; Winkel, Von K.; Cox, Jerry R.; Dobrenz, A. K.; Tewolde, Haile

doi:10.2134/agronj1993.00021962008500050003x

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Litter-and gravel-covered soil had similarly rapid drying fronts once the surface 1-3 cm dried to -1.5 MPa (Figure 4). These rates are faster than seminal root growth rates of warm-season grasses reported by Simanton and Jordan (1986) and Roundy et al (1993 LENGTH OF RAINY PERIOD BEFORE DRY PERIOD (DAYS) Figure 5. Estimated time that the drying front depth equals the depth of warm-season grass seminal roots (initial seedling drought) in relation to length of the rainy period before different soil drying rates for warm-season grasses with fast (2 days) and moderate (3 days) germination rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Adventitious roots increase water uptake potential and anchorage of grass seedlings but may require at least 9 days after germination to arise and about 21 days to reach the depth of seminal roots (Roundy et al, 1993;. These roots initiate near the soil surface for warm-season grasses (Hyder et al, 1971;Tischler & Voigt, 1987) and may fail to elongate under drought conditions .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surface soil water loss after summer rainfall in a semidesert grassland

Roundy¹,

Abbott²,

Livingston³

1997

Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation

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Surface soil water contents were analyzed for bare and litter-or gravel-covered soils for 20 drying periods after summer rainfall in southeastern Arizona. Water contents were measured every minute by fiberglass cells calibrated for the sandy-loam soil, and 30-to 60-min averages were stored by microloggers. Water loss to equivalent matric potentials of -1.5 MPa for bare surface soils (1-3 cm) was fast (1.2 ± 0.5 days), moderate (2.6 ± 0.9 days), or slow (5.9 ± 1.4 days) when the upper 15 cm of soil at the start of the drying period had 13.3, 27.1, and 36.1 cm of water, respectively. Those water contents are near saturation and near field capacity for slow and moderate drying rates, respectively. For fast drying rates, water content was near field capacity at 1-3 cm but dry below 8 cm. Litter or gravel mulches increased the time of surface soil water availability by 0.7 to 1.9 days for fast and moderate drying periods, respectively. Drying from the surface down into the soil profile averaged 3.6 cm day -1 . Short summer rainstorms may germinate warm-season grasses which will desiccate if subsequent rainfall is not persistent enough to maintain surface water availability and allow adventitious root development. Estimates of time that the drying front reaches the depth of seminal roots of warm-season grasses were used to suggest rain-rainless day patterns that might result in seedling mortality. Sowing during the summer rainy season when the probability of these patterns is minimal may increase revegetation success. High correlation of available water periods with meterological variables suggests that soil water dynamics could be accurately estimated using physically based models, and may permit more detailed modeling of seedling establishment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface soil water loss after summer rainfall in a semidesert grassland

Roundy¹,

Abbott²,

Livingston³

1997

Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation

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“…Similarly, desert plants are reported to have distinct periods of active growth coinciding with the seasonally predictable recharge of soil water (Schwinning and Sala 2004). In their natural habitats, seedling establishment for P. antidotale has also been reported to be dependent on rainstorms which are long enough to allow deep primary root growth and adventitious root elongation (Roundy et al 1993). This may account for the natural distribution of Panicum in the southeast of Iran, where sporadic monsoon rainfall is received from India.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may account for the natural distribution of Panicum in the southeast of Iran, where sporadic monsoon rainfall is received from India. Nevertheless, for most of the summer period, the soil is dry with little or no precipitation and, towards later stages of growth, Panicum is mainly dependent on the stored moisture in the deeper layers of soil (Roundy et al 1993). Therefore, the higher 15 N uptake by adult Panicum when water and nitrogen were supplied continuously is perhaps equivalent to the use of stored soil water under field conditions (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition for pulsed resources: an experimental study of establishment and coexistence for an arid-land grass

Jankju-Borzelabad

Griffiths

2006

Oecologia

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In arid environments, episodically-pulsed resources are important components of annual water and nutrient supply for plants. This study set out to test whether seedlings have an increased capacity for using pulsed resources, which might then improve establishment when in competition with older individuals. A second aim was to determine whether there is a trade-off in competitive strategies when resources are supplied continuously at low concentrations, or as pulses with pronounced inter-pulse periods. A glasshouse experiment used a target-neighbour design of size-asymmetric competition, with juveniles of Panicum antidotale (blue panicgrass) introduced into contrasting densities of adult plants. Stable isotopes of nitrogen were used for measuring plant resource uptake from pulses, and tolerance to inter-pulse conditions was assessed as the mean residence time (MRT) of nitrogen. A higher root/shoot ratio and finer root system enhanced the capacity of juveniles to use resources when pulsed, rather than when continuously supplied. Higher resource uptake during pulses improved the establishment of juvenile Panicum in mixed cultures with older individuals. However, a trade-off was observed in plant strategies, with juveniles showing a lower MRT for nitrogen, which suggested reduced tolerance to resource deficit during inter-pulse periods. Under field conditions, higher utilization of pulsed resources would lead to the improved seedling establishment of Panicum adjacent to "nurse" plants, whereas mature plants with well-developed roots, exploiting a greater soil volume, maintain more constant resource uptake and retention during inter-pulse periods.

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“…Seedling emergence was decreased with depth of sowing due to lack of aeration (Roundy et al, 1993) and a thick soil layer above seedling shoots (Aikins and Afuakwa, 2008). The time of emergence of the first leaf is greater from deep sowing than from shallow sowing because the first leaf starts from a deeper point (Hadjichristodoulou et al, 1977;Kudair and Adary, 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Deep Sowing Beneficial for Dry Season Cropping Without Irrigation on Sandy Soil With Shallow Water Table?

et al. 2013

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SUMMARYDeep sowing (15 cm) on sands in the dry season is a practice used in post-rice sowing of legumes without irrigation, designed to increase moisture access for germination, growth and crops yield. However, with such deep sowing there can be a penalty for emergence and growth if there is abundant water stored in the upper soil profile during the growing season. Hence, there is a need to define the soil water regimes under which deep sowing is advantageous for different legumes. To investigate the adaptation of legume crop species to deep sowing, we studied their emergence, growth and yield on three deep soils (3-16% clay) with shallow water tables during two years in northeast Thailand. At site 1 and 2, peanut, cowpea, mungbean and soybean were sown shallow (∼5 cm) or deep (∼15 cm). At site 3, only cowpea and peanut were shallow or deep sown. Shallow water tables maintained soil water content (0-15 cm) above permanent wilting point throughout the growing season. Deep sowing of all legumes delayed emergence by 3-7 days at all locations. Shoot dry weight of legumes after deep sowing was mostly similar or lower than weight after shallow sowing. Yield and harvest index of legumes did not differ meaningfully among sowing depths. Therefore, deep sowing was not beneficial for dry season cropping without irrigation when there was a shallow water table and sufficient water for crop growth throughout soil profiles in the growing season. Taken together with previous studies, we conclude that shallow rather than deep sowing of legumes was preferred when the soil water content at 0-15-cm depth remained higher than permanent wilting point throughout the growing season due to shallow water table.

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Sowing Depth and Soil Water Effects on Seedling Emergence and Root Morphology of Three Warm‐Season Grasses

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Surface soil water loss after summer rainfall in a semidesert grassland

Surface soil water loss after summer rainfall in a semidesert grassland

Competition for pulsed resources: an experimental study of establishment and coexistence for an arid-land grass

Is Deep Sowing Beneficial for Dry Season Cropping Without Irrigation on Sandy Soil With Shallow Water Table?

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