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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Plant Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #59705
Title: SOIL PH EFFECTS ON GROWTH AND MINERAL CONCENTRATION OF BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL

Author
item KALLENBACH, ROBERT - UNIV OF CA
item MCGRAW, ROBERT - UNIV OF MO
item Beuselinck, Paul

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/23/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Broadleaf birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus L., is a popular cross-pollinated, perennial legume cultivated for pasture or hay and silage production. It does not cause bloat and can be managed to reseed to maintain stands, but significant losses occur when stands decline from disease. Wild birdsfoot trefoil with rhizomes (creeping roots) was recently discovered in Morocco. This paper describes the results of a study to determine if trefoil with rhizomes would respond to acid soil differently than commercial varieties of birdsfoot trefoil without rhizomes. This research is important to current and potential producers of birdsfoot trefoil who need to know if additional management will be needed to grow birdsfoot trefoil with rhizomes. Birdsfoot trefoil with rhizomes produced forage and accumulated minerals similar to the varieties without rhizomes. These findings indicate that management practices to produce birdsfoot trefoil with rhizomes or without rhizomes would be similar.

Technical Abstract: Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) is a valuable forage legume. Accessions G 31276 and G 31272 exhibit rhizomatous growth and were collected from alkaline soils (pH 8.0-8.5). Nothing is known about the adaptation of rhizomatous birdsfoot trefoil to more acid soils. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soil pH on plant growth and mineral concentration of rhizomatous and domestic non- rhizomatous birdsfoot trefoil. Three entries, 'Norcen', 'AU Dewey', and RBRC (a bulked reciprocal cross of G 31276 and G 31272) were grown at soil pH levels 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 in a glasshouse. Dry matter production and concentrations of Al, Ca, K, P, Mg, Mn, and Zn in tissues were determined. No significant entry by soil pH level interaction was found for either dry matter accumulation or mineral concentration, indicating the RBRC responded to acidic soil pH like the domestic entries. Similar responses to soil pH among entries for dry matter and mineral concentration suggest that rhizomatous birdsfoot trefoil is not specifically adapted to alkaline soils.