‘Vavilov II’, a New Siberian Wheatgrass Cultivar with Improved Persistence and Establishment on Rangelands

Abstract

‘Vavilov II’ Siberian wheatgrass [Agropyron fragile (Roth) Candargy] (Reg. No. CV‐30, PI 653686) was released by the USDA‐ARS, the U.S. Army‐Engineer Research and Development Center, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, and the USDA‐NRCS. Vavilov II was developed for reseeding sandy soils on disturbed rangelands dominated by annual weeds as a result of severe disturbance, frequent fires, and soil erosion. Selection emphasis in Vavilov II was on seedling establishment and stand persistence. During the establishment year, Vavilov II had increased numbers of seedlings per unit area (m2) using a frequency grid than ‘Vavilov’ at Yakima, WA, Fillmore, UT, Dugway, UT, and Curlew Valley, ID. Vavilov II was more persistent than Vavilov at Yakima, WA, Fillmore, UT, Curlew Valley, ID, and Malta, ID. Foundation seed of Vavilov II is available through the Utah Crop Improvement Association and the University of Idaho Foundation Seed Program.

‘Stabilizer’, a New Low‐Growing Siberian Wheatgrass Cultivar for Use on Semiarid Lands

“…The latter accessions were classified as A. fragile var. sibiricum (Jensen et al, 2000) and used in the development of Vavilov II (Jensen et al, 2009).…”

“…It appears that genetic introgression has occurred between Siberian and standard forms in nature. This introgression is evident in the Siberian cultivars P-27, Vavilov, and Vavilov II by the morphological cline that exists between the long, narrow spike of Siberian wheatgrass and the shorter, wider spike of the standard forms of crested wheatgrass (Asay et al, 1995;Jensen et al, 2009). When combined across locations (Nephi and Blue Creek, UT), significant differences were observed for plant height, flag-leaf height, spike length, spike width, first lemma length, and first lemma awn length, all of these differentiating Stabilizer from Vavilov II and Vavilov (Table 2).…”

“…665034) was released by the USDA-ARS in 2011. This unique cultivar is lower-growing, maintains its blue-green color throughout the growing season, and produces less forage than the cultivars Vavilov (Asay et al, 1995) and Vavilov II (Jensen et al, 2009). It was developed for use on arid and semiarid rangelands as a low-growing, rapidestablishing revegetation grass for use on rangelands and roadsides and as a grass component in fire-strip plantings in the Intermountain West, Great Basin, and Northern Great Plains Regions of the western United States.…”

“…The earliest Siberian wheatgrass cultivar released was 'P-27' in 1953 (Alderson andSharp, 1994) followed by Vavilov in 1994 and Vavilov II in 2008 with selection emphasis on the latter two cultivars for seedling establishment, persistence, and overall plant vigor. Genetic introgression occurs between Siberian and standard forms in nature, and a gradation between the long, narrow spike of Siberian and the shorter, wider spike of the standard forms are evident in Vavilov and Vavilov II (Asay et al, 1995;Jensen et al, 2009).…”

Intermountain West Military Training Lands Planting Guide: Selecting Seed Mixtures for Actively Used Military Lands

“… 'CD-II' crested wheatgrass cultivar, currently on the market for purchase (Asay et al 1997)  RWR-Tetra-1 Tetraploid wildrye, a source-identified germplasm (Jensen et al 1998)  'Bozoisky-II' Russian wildrye cultivar )  'Vavilov II' Siberian wheatgrass cultivar (Jensen et al 2009) …”