A four-year trial was initiated in January 2000 to evaluate forage production, basal cover, and persistence of endophyte-infected tall fescue (IF; Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), endophyte-free tall fescue (FF), or orchardgrass (OG; Dactylis glomerata L.) overseeded into dormant common bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] for spring-calving cows. The FF and OG pastures were managed with eit...

Epichloë endophytes are common symbionts living asymptomatically in pooid grasses and may provide chemical defences against herbivorous insects. While the mechanisms underlying these fungal defences have been well studied, it remains unknown whether endophyte presence affects the host's own defences. We addressed this issue by examining variation in the impact of Epichloë on constitutive and he...

marker analysis suggests that it is also closely related to perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne L. (Xu and Sleper, Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) is a pasture grass that 1994). It hybridizes readily with both perennial and Italhas been little used in North America since the introduction of its higher yielding relative, tall fescue (F. arundinacea Schreb.). The ian ryegrass, L. multiflor...

Adaptation and Establishment Meadow fescue prefers deep, rich soils, and while surviving in wet soils, it cannot tolerate flooding. It will survive under dry conditions but is more sensitive to drought than many other grasses. It can be grown in areas suitable for timothy, and is considerably more winter hardy than tall fescue in northern environments. Meadow fescue is closely related to both t...

The objective of this research was to examine the effect of high concentrations of nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) on the voluntary food intake of sheep fed high-quality grasses. Wether lambs (n = 6 per treatment) were fed dried switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.; Exp. 1) or dried tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.; Exp. 2). In both experiments, urea was added to the dried forage at 0 (control), ...

—Phalaris arundinacea L. (reed canarygrass) is an aggressive graminoid species that invades wetlands in much of the northern United States. In areas previously used for agriculture and other recently disturbed habitats, P. arundinacea out-competes the native flora and creates monocultures, which reduce biodiversity and alter ecosystem functioning. Much research has focused on the growth respons...

Alum (Al2(SO4)(3).14H2O) additions to poultry litter result in lower ammonia (NH3) volatilization and phosphorus (P) runoff; however, the long-term effects of alum on soil P behavior have been unknown. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the long-term effects of poultry litter, alum-treated litter, and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) on P availability in soils and P runoff. Two studies were...

Substitution of a species or cultivar with higher uptake of an element by one with lower uptake has been proposed as a remediation strategy following accidental releases of radioactivity. However, despite the importance of pasture systems for radiological dose, species/cultivar substitution has not been thoroughly investigated for forage grasses. 397 cultivars from four forage grass species; hy...