Soil organic C (SOC) and total N (TN) contents play a crucial role in sustaining agricultural production systems. Short-term ( 10-year) management effects on SOC and TN dynamics are often complex and variable. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate short-term tillage and cropping system effects on SOC and TN within the 0–30 cm soil depth across Iowa. The first experiment with no-tillage a...

Seedling establishment is a critical phase in pasture management. Knowledge of the seedling development of new forages is necessary to develop management practices and recommend species mixtures for pasture seedings. We compared seedling growth and development of prairiegrass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth = B. catharticus Vahl), grazing bromegrass (B. stamineus Desv.), and orchardgrass (Dactylis gl...

A field lysimeter study with bare ground and five different ground covers was established to evaluate the effect of forage grasses on the fate and transport of two herbicides in leachate. The herbicides were atrazine (ATR; 2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine) and isoxaflutole [IXF; 5-cyclopropyl-4-(2-methylsulfonyl-4-trifluormethyl-benzoyl)isoxazole], which has the commercial ...

Cells of the terrestrial plant species bromegrass (Bromus inermis L.) are not naturally adapted to withstand the hydrostatic pressures encountered in aquatic environments. However, after treatment with the natural plant growth hormone abscisic acid (75 micromolar), bromegrass cells survived a hydrostatic pressure of 101.3 megapascals, approximating the limits of ocean depth (10,860 m). The incr...