Green needlegrass (Stipa viridula Trin.) is commonly used in range seedings and revegetation of disturbed lands in the northern Great Plains. This study was conducted to determine the influence of planting depth, seed source, and temperature on morphology and emergence of green needlegrass seedlings. Seeds from 2 sources were planted at depths of 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, and 7.5 cm in pots filled with sandy loam soil. Pots were placed in growth chambers adjusted for either a 20/15 degrees C (15 h light/9 h dark) temperature regime or a 25/20 degrees C regime. Coleoptile length increased with planting depth, while seminal primary root length, adventitious root length, and number of adventitious roots decreased with planting depth. 'SD-93' seedlings had shorter subcoleoptile internodes, longer coleoptiles, and better root development than 'Lodorm' seedlings. Seedlings grown under the warmer temperature regime had better root development than seedlings grown under the cooler regime, but reach of the coleoptile above planting depth was not as great. Results indicated that green needlegrass generally should not be planted at depths greater than 3.0 cm because of lower percent emergence, rate of emergence, and poor root development when seedlings emerged from greater depths. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.