Life Sciences Commons^™

Summer Dormancy And Survival Of Tall Fescue In Relation To Endophyte Presence, J. L. Thomas, Charles P. West, D. P. Malinowski

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

True summer dormancy in temperate perennial grasses is the ability to survive summer stresses by ceasing growth and senescing vegetative tissues independently of water supply, as opposed to summer-active grasses, which respond to rains by continuing growth, but senesce during droughts (Volaire and Norton 2006). Summer dormancy is a common drought-escape mechanism for Mediterranean-origin perennial grasses, but is also being considered as a potentially useful trait in semiarid to humid zones whose climates are not strictly Mediterranean, but where temperate grass survival is threatened by summer heat and water deficits (Malinowski et al. 2005). Moreover, summer dormancy may provide …

Dissecting Drought-Response Strategies Of Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium Perenne L.), Jean-Hugues B. Hatier, Lulu He, Marty J. Faville, Micheal J. Hickey, Chris S. Jones, Mohamed Z. Z. Jahufer, Cory Matthew

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Periodic drought is a severe constraint on the profitability and sustainability of pastoral production. As a result of climate change, drought events are anticipated to increase in frequency and intensity even in regions where annual precipitation is unchanged, as well as where it is reduced.

Many studies have been carried out on drought resistance of forage species (Holloway-Phillips and Brodribb 2011). However, for most experiments, it is unclear which mechanism(s) are responsible for variation in plant performance under moisture stress, whether drought response mechanisms were triggered, or whether differences in performance were simply the result of intrinsic plant vigour. The …

Designing Resilient And Sustainable Grasslands For A Drier Future: Adaptive Strategies, Functional Traits And Biotic Interactions, Florence Volaire, Karim Barkaoui, Mark Norton

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

In many regions of the world, such as Southern Europe and most Mediterranean areas, the frequency and magnitude of droughts and heat waves are expected to increase under global warming and will challenge the sustainability of both native and sown grasslands. To analyze the adaptive strategies of species, genotypes and cultivars, we aim both: (1) to understand the composition and functioning of natural grasslands; and (2) to propose ideotypes of cultivars and optimal composition for mixtures of species/genotypes under water deficit and high temperatures. This review presents a conceptual framework to analyze adaptive responses of perennial herbaceous species, starting from …