ARS | Publication request: SELECTION OF TALL FESCUE UNDER COMPETITIVE AND NON-COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS: EVALUATION OF PROGRESS BASED ON SPACED PLANTS

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 3, 2004
Publication Date: October 31, 2004
Citation: Capo-Chichi, L., Casler, M.D., Johnson, S., Van Santen, E. 2004. Selection of tall fescue under competitive and non-competitive conditions: evaluation of progress based on spaced plants [abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Paper No. 5002.

Technical Abstract: Selection for improved forage yield is often practiced in a spaced-plant nursery without any competition. Our experiment aimed to investigate the changes that occur when RPS is practiced in a spaced-plant nursery with minimal competition from weeds vs. a nursery where competing species are allowed to develop freely. Seedlings were established in the greenhouse in late summer and transplanted to a spaced-plant nursery at the Plant Breeding Unit, Tallassee, AL in early October of each year. Plants were allowed to grow until the following October when both nurseries were trimmed back. After a 4-wk regrowth period a grid was superimposed on each nursery and plant size scored within each 25-block on a scale of 0-9. Selected individuals within each scheme were intermated in Oregon. Three cycles of selection have been completed. Cycles 0 to 2 were evaluated as spaced plants for 2 consecutive years under three competition levels at Arlington, WI (none, alfalfa, Kentucky bluegrass) and four (none, natural weeds, alfalfa, and annual ryegrass) at Tallassee, AL. Selection under competitive conditions resulted in shifting the populations to earlier reproductive maturity. We will also report on the effects of selection on morphological traits such as tiller number, leaf length and width, and plant diameter.