Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future

2017 Annual Meeting | Oct. 22-25 | Tampa, FL

107077 Comparison of Belowground Responses of Rhizoma Peanut-Bahiagrass Mixtures with Their Monocultures.

Poster Number 319

See more from this Division: C06 Forage and Grazinglands
See more from this Session: Forages in Florida and the Tropics Poster

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Tampa Convention Center, East Exhibit Hall

Erick Rodrigo da Silva Santos1, Jose Carlos Batista Dubeux Jr.1, Cheryl Mackowiak2, Ann Blount3, Lynn E. Sollenberger4, Nicolas DiLorenzo1, David Jaramillo5, Liza Garcia6 and Jennifer Shirley2, (1)North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Marianna, FL
(2)North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Quincy, FL
(3)North Florida Research and Education Center, North Florida Research & Education Center, Quincy, FL
(4)Agronomy Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
(5)North Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida North Florida Research & Extension Center, Marianna, FL
(6)Agronomy, University of Florida, Marianna, FL
Abstract:
Growing legumes and grasses together is a management practice that might bring environmental and economical benefits by decreasing the utilization and manufacture of industrial N fertilizer. The mineralization of belowground biomass is one of the pathways which N can be transferred from legumes to grasses. The goal of this study was to evaluate belowground responses of rhizoma peanut (RP; Arachisglabrata Benth.) and bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flüggé) mixtures in contrast with their monocultures. The study was conducted in a randomized complete block design with eight treatments and three replications. Treatments were two bahiagrass entries (‘Argentine’ and ‘DF9’, receiving 90 kg N ha-1 harvest-1), two RP entries (‘Ecoturf’ and ‘Q6B’), and the combinations of each entry of bahiagrass with each entry of RP (Argentine-Ecoturf, Argentine-Q6B, DF9-Ecoturf, and DF9-Q6B). Two 0- to 20-cm depth x 10.8-cm diameter soil cores were sampled at the beginning (July 2015 and at the end (September 2016) of the study. Variables analyzed were root-rhizome biomass, N and C content, δ15N, δ13C, C:N ratio, and proportion of each component in the belowground biomass. There was a treatment × year interaction for root-rhizome biomass because in 2016 Argentine and DF9 monocultures had twice as much belowground biomass as they did in 2015.Total N and C content, did not differ from RP or bahiagrass monocultures (P>0.05), however they were greater in 2016 (P<0.05; 139 kg N ha-1 and 5360 kg C ha-1) than in 2015 (61 kg N ha-1 and 3540 kg C ha-1). In 2016, mixture C:N ratio in the belowground biomass were equivalent to N-fertilized bahiagrass monocultures. Bahiagrass and RP belowground proportion did not differ among the mixtures. There was a change (P<0.05) in the Argentine δ15N from -0.76 to 1.68‰ from 2015 to 2016. Mixtures of RP-bahiagrass can perform as good as N fertilized bahiagrass or RP pastures.

See more from this Division: C06 Forage and Grazinglands
See more from this Session: Forages in Florida and the Tropics Poster