Rangeland Ecology & Management

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GERMINATION AND GROWTH OF BOUTELOUA CURTIPENDULA (MICHX.) TORR. UNDER DIFFERENT RADIATION ENVIRONMENTS.
Author
Corrales, Ra?�l
V�squez-Montes, Sa�l
Villarreal-Guerrero, Federico
Cervates-Trejo, Ang�lica
Morales, Carlos R.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2016
Body

Native grass species for livestock present limitations for their establishment and propagation in deteriorated rangelands of Chihuahua, Mexico. Revegetation represents an alternative; however, nursery plant production of grasses is costly, especially if the nursery house has to be controlled to keep an appropriate climate. Among the climatic factors, radiation is key, as it impacts plant growth rate if is not appropriate for the species. The objective was to evaluate the effect of four radiation environments on the germination and growth of Bouteloua curtipendula. The radiation environment was modified inside three small structures (scaled greenhouses) of 1.05x0.50x0.75 m (length x width x height), covered with red, blue and green cellophane. These colored structures were located inside an experimental polyethylene greenhouse (12x5x3.5 m). A standard germination test was performed in five petri dishes (replications), each containing 10 seeds, placed inside each scaled greenhouse. The same amount of petri dishes were placed inside the greenhouse and served as the control. Similarly, nine seedlings of 12 days after emergency were accommodated inside each treatment and the control to evaluate growth. Homogeneous temperature and relative humidity conditions were ensured to attribute the effect on growth and germination rate to the radiation environments. The germination rate was 94.0�1.3, 92�1.7, 86�1.63 and 86�1.41% for the red, blue, green colors and the control, respectively. Plant growth was 0.35�0.08, 0.27�0.07, 0.26�0.03 and 0.22�0.05 m for the red, blue, green colors and the control, respectively. A comparison of means (?< 0.05) indicated the red color produced the highest germination rate and growth followed by the blue. Differences in germination between the green color and the control were not significant. Moreover, all the treatments produced a significantly higher growth than the control. Red and blue radiations can potentially reduce time and costs during seedlings production of Bouteloua curtipendula for revegetation purposes.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Corpus Christi, TX