Habitat and plant diversity of Trifolium tumens (Steven ex M. Bieb.) collected in Azerbaijan and its characterisation and field evaluation in Tasmania, Australia
E. J. Hall A D , S. J. Hughes B , A. W. Humphries B and R. Corkrey CA Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, PO Box 46, Kings Meadows, Tasmania 7249, Australia. (www.tia.tas.edu.au/).
B South Australian Research and Development Institute, PO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
C Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, 13 St Johns Avenue, New Town, Tasmania, 7008, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: Eric.Hall@utas.edu.au
Crop and Pasture Science 64(4) 374-387 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP13040
Submitted: 25 January 2013 Accepted: 23 July 2013 Published: 13 August 2013
Abstract
Trifolium tumens (Talish clover) is a perennial legume species not previously domesticated for use in world agriculture. It is native to areas of the eastern Mediterranean, Caucasus and mountainous areas of the Middle East with a warm temperate or cool Mediterranean environment. The species has been identified by pasture researchers in Australia as a having sufficient drought and grazing tolerance to fill a gap created by the lack of a well adapted perennial legume for dryland pasture systems across low rainfall (450 to 750 mm annual average rainfall), temperate regions of Australia. The need to expand available genetic diversity of this species resulted in a germplasm collecting mission to Azerbaijan in 2004. The successful mission collected seed from 35 populations of T. tumens across 7 agro ecological zones, including 5 climatic zones. This collection increased the number of accessions held in ex situ local and international collections from 21 to 56. The range of adaptation and frequency of the collection of T. tumens was far greater than expected with accessions found at altitudes ranging from 12 to 1700 m above sea level, in soils with pH (1:5 H20) ranging between 5.0 and 9.0 and rainfall varying from 300 to 1300 mm. T. tumens was found growing alongside a diverse range of companion species in heavily grazed lowland pastures up to lightly grazed alpine meadows. This material has been characterised by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), with promising accessions contributing to a breeding program to develop a commercial cultivar adapted to temperate environments (<750 mm rainfall).
Additional keywords: Pasture legume, perennial clover, genetic resources.
References
Akaike H (1974) A new look at the statistical model identification. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control 19, 716–723.| A new look at the statistical model identification.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Auricht G, Hughes S, Humphries A, Hall E (2010) Plant Collection in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for Forage Improvement in Australia. In ‘Sustainable use of genetic diversity in forage and turf breeding’. pp. 47–59. (Springer: Dordrecht)
Berger J, Hughes S, Snowball R, Redden R, Bennett S, Clements J, Nawar F (2013) Strengthening the impact of plant genetic resources through collaborative collection, conservation, characterization and evaluation: a tribute to the legacy of Dr Clive Francis. Crop & Pasture Science 64, 300–311.
Bureau of Meteorology (2012) Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology. Available at: www.bom.gov.au/weather/ (accessed 2012).
Dear BS, Ewing MA (2008) The search for new pasture plants to achieve more sustainable production systems in southern Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 387–396.
| The search for new pasture plants to achieve more sustainable production systems in southern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dear BS, Moore GA, Hughes SJ (2003) Adaptation and potential contribution of temperate perennial legumes to the southern Australian wheat belt: a review. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 43, 1–18.
| Adaptation and potential contribution of temperate perennial legumes to the southern Australian wheat belt: a review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Galloway A, Cables J, Parsons D, Lane P, Hal E (2010) Growth and development of Lotus and Trifolium species under saline and water logging conditions. In ‘Food Security from Sustainable Agriculture. Proceedings of 15th Agronomy Conference’. 15–18 November 2010, Lincoln, New Zealand. (Eds H Dove, RA Culvenor)
Hall E, Hurst AM (2008) The development of Talish clover (Trifolium tumens Steven ex M. Bieb.) as a potential new perennial pasture legume for low rainfall temperate environments. In ‘Proceedings of the Joint XXI International Grassland and VIII International Rangeland Congress’.
Hall EJ, Hurst A, Reid R (2012) The evaluation of temperate perennial legume pasture species for a low to medium rainfall environment in Tasmania. In ‘Proceedings of the Australian Legume Symposium’. Australia.
Hughes SJ, Snowball R, Reed K, Cohen B, Gajda K, Williams A, Groeneweg S (2008) The systematic collection and characterisation of herbaceous forage species for recharge and discharge environments in southern Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 397–408.
| The systematic collection and characterisation of herbaceous forage species for recharge and discharge environments in southern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Humphries AW, Hughes SJ (2006) Preliminary evaluation of diverse lucerne (Medicago sativa spp.) germplasm to identify new material for livestock and cropping based farming systems in Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57, 1297–1306.
| Preliminary evaluation of diverse lucerne (Medicago sativa spp.) germplasm to identify new material for livestock and cropping based farming systems in Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hurst AM, Hall E (2010) ‘Trifolium tumens ‘Permatas’. Plant Varieties Journal 23, 273–275.
McKnight TL, Hess D (2000) Climate zones and types: the Koppen System. In ‘Physical geography: a landscape appreciation’. pp. 200–201. (Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ)
Meoweather (2012) Weather history for Lerik, Azerbaijan. Available at: www.meoweather.com/history/Azerbaijan/na/38.7752778/48.4152778/Lerik.html (accessed 2012)
Real D, Sandral GA, Warden J, Rebuffo M, Risso DE, Ayres J, Kelman W, Hughes SJ (2005) Breeding drought tolerant Lotus corniculatus L. for Mediterranean like climates of Southern Australia. Lotus News, v.15.
Real D, Li GD, Clark S, Albertsen TO, Hayes RC, Denton MD, D’Antuono MF, Dear BS (2011) Evaluation of perennial forage legumes and herbs in six Mediterranean environments. Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research 71, 357–369.
| Evaluation of perennial forage legumes and herbs in six Mediterranean environments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vanclay F (2004) Social principles for agricultural extension to assist in the promotion of natural resource management. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, 213–222.
| Social principles for agricultural extension to assist in the promotion of natural resource management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Zohary M, Heller D (1970) The Trifolium species of sect. Vesicaria Crantz. Israel Journal of Botany 19, 314–335.
Zohary M, Heller D (1984) The genus Trifolium. The Isreal Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 296–298.
