Register      Login
Crop and Pasture Science Crop and Pasture Science Society
Plant sciences, sustainable farming systems and food quality
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > CP > CP08374
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 60(6)

Replacement series studies of competition between tropical perennial and annual grasses and perennial grass mixtures in northern New South Wales

G. M. Lodge A B , S. P. Boschma A and S. Harden A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, 4 Marsden Park Road, Calala, NSW 2340, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: greg.lodge@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Crop and Pasture Science 60(6) 526-531 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP08374
Submitted: 23 October 2008  Accepted: 30 March 2009   Published: 12 June 2009

Abstract

Seedlings of three perennial tropical grasses, Chloris gayana cv. Katambora (Rhodes grass), Panicum coloratum var. makarikariense cv. Bambatsi (panic grass), and Digitaria eriantha ssp. eriantha cv. Premier (digit grass), were each grown in replacement series mixtures with seedlings of the annual summer-growing grass weeds Urochloa panicoides (liverseed grass) and Echinochloa colona (awnless barnyard grass). A separate experiment examined the competitiveness of seedlings of the three perennial tropical grasses when two species were sown together. Plants were sown 50 mm apart in boxes at a density of 307 plants/m2. Maximum likelihood estimates were used to derive parameters of a non-linear competition model using the dry weights of perennial and annual grasses.

Seedlings of the summer-growing annual liverseed grass competed aggressively with those of the tropical perennial Katambora Rhodes grass. However, Bambatsi panic seedlings were equally competitive with those of awnless barnyard grass, while those in a Premier digit-barnyard grass mixture were inhibited by the presence of each other. In the perennial grass mixtures study, the performance of both Premier digit and Bambatsi panic was adversely affected by the presence of Katambora Rhodes grass.


Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Brian Roworth, Mark Brennan, Ivan Stace, and Peter Sanson in conducting these studies. Funding for this work was jointly provided by the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Future Farming Industries (formerly the CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity) and the NSW Department of Primary Industries.


References


Armstrong RD, Brown RF, Helyar KR (1993) The use of nitrogen, phosphorus and lime to limit the competitive ability of Aristida armata in the establishment phase. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 44, 165–178.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Boschma SP, Lodge GM, Harden S (2008) Herbage mass and persistence of pasture legumes and grasses at two potentially different saline and waterlogging sites in northern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 553–567.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Boschma SP , McCormick LH (2008) Towards a tropical grass package for northern New South Wales. In ‘Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference of the Grassland Society of NSW’. (Eds SP Boschma, LM Serafin, JF Ayres) pp. 51–57. (NSW Grassland Society Inc.: Orange, NSW)

Davidson IA, Robson MJ (1986) Effect of temperature and nitrogen supply on the growth of perennial ryegrass and white clover. 2. A comparison of monocultures and mixed swards. Annals of Botany 57, 709–719. open url image1

de Wit CT (1960) On competition. Verslagen Landbouwkundig Onderzoekingen Nederlands 66, 1–82. open url image1

Harper JL (1977) ‘Population biology of plants.’ (Academic Press: London)

Hill MJ, Gleeson AC (1988) Competition among seedlings of phalaris, subterranean clover and white clover in diallel replacement series mixtures. Grass and Forage Science 43, 411–420.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Lodge GM (2000) Competition among seedlings of perennial grasses, subterranean clover, white clover and annual ryegrass in replacement series mixtures. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 51, 377–383.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Machin D, Sanderson B (1977) Computing maximum-likelihood estimates for the parameters of the de Wit Competition model. Applied Statistics 26, 1–8.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Martin RJ, McMillan MG, Cook JB (1988) Survey of farm management practices of the northern wheat belt of New South Wales. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 28, 499–509.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

McCormick LH , McGufficke BR , Harden S , Ross BA (1998) Subtropical grass evaluation for pastures in northern NSW. In ‘Proceedings of the 9th Australian Agronomy Conference’. Wagga Wagga, NSW. (Eds DL Michalk, JE Pratley) pp. 215–216. (Australian Society of Agronomy: Melbourne)

Robinson GG, Whalley RDB (1991) Competition among three agronomic types of the Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees complex and three temperate pasture grasses on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 42, 309–316.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Walker SR, Taylor IN, Milne G, Osten VA, Hoque Z, Farquharson RJ (2005) A survey of management and economic impact of weeds in dryland cotton cropping systems of subtropical Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 79–91.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1