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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Seeding Rate Effects On Forage Mass And Vegetation Dynamics Of Cool-Season Grass Sod Interseeded With Sorghum-Sudangrass, John A. Guretzky, D. D. Redfearn Nov 2021

Seeding Rate Effects On Forage Mass And Vegetation Dynamics Of Cool-Season Grass Sod Interseeded With Sorghum-Sudangrass, John A. Guretzky, D. D. Redfearn

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Interseeding annual warm-season grasses into perennial cool-season grasses has the potential to increase summer forage mass and nutritive value. Knowledge of how seeding rate affects annual warm-season grass establishment, forage mass, and vegetation dynamics remains limited. From 2016–2017, we conducted a field experiment evaluating the effects of seeding rates on sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor x S. bicolor var. sudanense) density and forage mass and on the frequency of occurrence of plant species in cool-season grass sod in Lincoln, NE. The experiment had a completely randomized design consisting of six replicates of four seeding rates [0, 14, 28, and 35 …


Reducing Mowing Requirements In Home Lawn And Golf Course Turfgrass, Mark A. Keck Nov 2020

Reducing Mowing Requirements In Home Lawn And Golf Course Turfgrass, Mark A. Keck

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Turfgrass systems are routinely managed by frequent mowing to increase aesthetics and function. Mowing is resource intensive with a high labor and energy demand. Reducing the number of mowings events in a growing season will decrease the labor and energy but may reduce quality as well. Previous work has looked at reducing mowing by changing the frequency and by using a plant growth regulator (PGR). Limited information is available about how to reduce mowing while maintaining acceptable quality. We looked at two different management practices to reduce mowing and maintain quality. The first study evaluated seven different mowing frequencies at …


Understanding Spatial Dynamics Of Tallgrass Prairie Dominated By Tall Fescue, Callie Griffith Dec 2018

Understanding Spatial Dynamics Of Tallgrass Prairie Dominated By Tall Fescue, Callie Griffith

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study was conducted on restored tallgrass prairie and invaded tallgrass prairie located in the Grand River Grasslands of southern Iowa to determine differences in heterogeneity of plant structure and functional group composition at different scales. Restored tallgrass prairies were seeded with a species-rich seeding mixture and managed by burning the entire prairie, every three years. Data were collected in August 2014 and 2015 to compare heterogeneity of restoration of native plant structure and functional group composition to the heterogeneity of invaded tallgrass prairies that were managed with patch burning and conventionally grazed. Invaded tallgrass prairies were managed with patch-burning …


Impact Of Drought On Chemical Composition And Sugar Yields From Dilute-Acid Pretreatment And Enzymatic Hydrolysis Of Miscanthus, A Tall Fescue Mixture, And Switchgrass, Amber Hoover, Rachel Emerson, Allison Ray, Daniel Stevens, Sabrina Morgan, Marnie Cortez, Robert Kallenbach, Matthew Sousek, Rodney Farris, Dayna Daubaras Jan 2018

Impact Of Drought On Chemical Composition And Sugar Yields From Dilute-Acid Pretreatment And Enzymatic Hydrolysis Of Miscanthus, A Tall Fescue Mixture, And Switchgrass, Amber Hoover, Rachel Emerson, Allison Ray, Daniel Stevens, Sabrina Morgan, Marnie Cortez, Robert Kallenbach, Matthew Sousek, Rodney Farris, Dayna Daubaras

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Environmental factors like drought impact the quality of biomass entering a bioconversion process. Drought often reduces the sugar content in lignocellulosic biomass, which could have economic impacts, particularly when compounded with losses in dry biomass yield; however, the effects on conversion efficiency are not completely understood. This study investigated how drought may impact biomass composition and sugar yields from dilute-acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of Miscanthus, a tall fescue mixture, and switchgrass from Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma, respectively, grown as part of Regional Feedstock Partnership field trials. Samples were grown and harvested in 2010 during non-drought conditions and in …


Pollination Cycles And Pollen Dispersal In Relation To Grass Improvement, Melvin D. Jones, L. C. Newell Oct 1946

Pollination Cycles And Pollen Dispersal In Relation To Grass Improvement, Melvin D. Jones, L. C. Newell

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The plant breeder is initially concerned with gaining a knowledge of the breeding behavior of his plant materials in order that improvement may be undertaken effectively. It is important to know the different characteristic pollination habits of these plants. To develop and apply techniques applicable to the improvement of a given grass crop, it is desirable to know the time of day and the number of days that the grass sheds pollen. The effects of temperature, humidity, light, and wind on pollination must be considered. Once superiority of germplasm is obtained, the most important consideration is the maintenance of this …