Survival analysis of germination data in response to temperature for Ornithopus species and other temperate pasture legumes

D. R. Kidd; M. Valifard; Juan Qi; J. M. B. Wisdom; R. J. Simpson; M. H. Ryan

doi:10.1071/FP23095

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Survival analysis of germination data in response to temperature for Ornithopus species and other temperate pasture legumes

D. R. Kidd

^A ^* , M. Valifard

^B , Juan Qi

^C , J. M. B. Wisdom

^A , R. J. Simpson

^D and M. H. Ryan

^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Agriculture and Environment and Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

^B Department of Plant Physiology, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Street, Kaiserslautern 67653, Germany.

^C College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730070, China.

^D CSIRO Agriculture and Food, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: 22303217@student.uwa.edu.au

Handling Editor: Jairo Palta

Functional Plant Biology 50(10) 792-807 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP23095
Submitted: 24 April 2023 Accepted: 1 August 2023 Published: 22 August 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Cool temperatures can limit productivity of temperate grazing systems as poor pasture growth rates in winter create feed shortages for livestock. Ornithopus spp. (serradella) are broadly adapted annual pasture legumes that produce high-quality forage in soil types considered marginal for other temperate legume species. However, serradella establishment is perceived to be difficult in cool-season environments. We used survival analysis to compare germination rate and seedling emergence for two serradella species (yellow serradella and French serradella) against three reference species (Medicago sativa, M. polymorpha and Trifolium subterraneum) in four temperature treatments (10/5, 15/10, 20/15 and 25/20°C; max/min). We also compared shoot relative growth rate and photosynthetic rate at 15/10°C (cool) and 23/18°C (warm). Cool temperatures (10/5, 15/10°C) did not slow germination rates for serradella relative to the reference species, but warm temperatures (20/15, 25/20°C) delayed emergence and reduced post-emergent shoot growth rates. Once established, Ornithopus spp. had similar mean photosynthetic rates and stomatal conductance at cool temperatures to the reference species. We conclude that, contrary to common perception, cool temperatures did not adversely influence germination, emergence, or early growth of Ornithopus spp. relative to the reference species.

Keywords: abiotic stress, alfalfa, cold temperatures, emergence, forage, legumes, pasture, photosynthesis, serradella.

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