Plant functional traits are thought to drive variation in primary productivity. However, there is a lack of work examining how dominant species identity affects trait-productivity relationships. The productivity of 12 pasture mixtures was determined in a 3-year field experiment. The mixtures were based on either the winter-active ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or winter-dormant tall fescue (Festuca ...

seed production, as well as other economical and ecological attributes, is an important character in grasses. knowledge on the genetic diversity of seed yield and yield components on iranian tall fescue accessions, as a high productive and adaptive grass is limited. this experiment was conducted to investigate the genetic diversity of seed yield and seed components, determine relationships betw...

AIMS To compare the prevalence of faecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in growing beef cattle consuming various forages. METHODS AND RESULTS In Experiment I, faecal samples were collected from steers grazing either endophyte-infected (E+) tall fescue or common bermudagrass (CB). Steers grazing E+ tall fescue were confined to a dry-lot pen and fed CB hay ad libitum for 10...

Tall fescue (Festuca rundinacea) plants can be infected with the endophytic fungus Acremonium coenophialum. This fungus, which grows subcutaneously in leaves, stems, and seeds, does not undergo sexual reproduction or sporulate, and cannot survive outside the plant (Clay 1988). The fungus is passed from one generation to the next through infected seed. A mutualistic relationship exists between t...

Five tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.)] pastures [wild-type 'Kentucky-31' with 78.0% of plants infected with ergot alkaloid-producing endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum (KY31 E+), 'Jesup' AR542 endophyte-infected contaminated with 30.3% tall fescue containing ergot alkaloid producing-endophyte (Jesup AR542 E+); 'GA-186' AR584 endophyte-infected contaminated with 11.8% tall fescue cont...

Grazing represents a sustainable alternative for the control of medusahead infestations but intake of medusahead by ruminants is typically low. We determined in sheep whether (1) high-energy supplements enhance medusahead intake and preference relative to a treatment without supplementation and (2) individual differences in medusahead intake transfer to individual differences in the ingestion o...

forage species in mixtures are extensively grown worldwide nowadays, particularly as a step towards sustainable agriculture, however, information on this topic is scanty in our country. thus a 2-year (2001-2003) field experiment was conducted to determine the forage yield, botanical composition, as well as competition of some forage grasses and legumes as mono and dual cultures combinations at ...

introduction: worldwide, more than one-third of irrigated land is salinized, and in many regions, fresh water shortage has resulted in restrictions on the use of potable water for landscape irrigation. on the other hand, rapidly expanding population growth is occurring in many arid regions, where soil and water salinity are problems and there are increased demands on limited fresh water resourc...