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A biological method for the determination of turfgrass reserves

University of British Columbia

A biological method for the measurement of sod reserves was developed. A tool was constructed to obtain sod cores of 4" diameter and 4" deep. The cores were taken from lawns containing local bentgrasses, blue-grasses, fescues and ryegrasses, and from putting greens composed of local bentgrass strains. The cores were kept in a dark chamber. The etiolated grass was clipped periodically until the reserves in the cores became exhausted. The oven dry weight of clippings from a unit core area, the sod reserve index, was used as a measure of reserves. The sod reserve index was found to vary with species and varieties, soil conditions, management practices, amount of solar radiation, wear and compaction, and seasonal changes. Summer dormancy depressed the level of sod reserves. It appeared that photoperiod may play some role in controlling summer dormancy. The turf quality was directly related to the amount of reserves; therefore, the sod reserve index may be used as one of the objective measure of turf quality. The localization of reserves in the soil profile varied slightly with the species used, but the results indicated that only the upper one inch of the soil horizon has a major role as a storage zone for underground reserves.

Text

2011-09-22

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/37568

Plant Science

University of British Columbia

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