Abstract Traditionally managed mesotrophic species‐rich upland hay meadows conforming to the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) MG3b are one of rarest grassland types in United Kingdom, with substantial declines botanical diversity over last 50 years. Intensive spring grazing, earlier cut dates and increases soil fertility cause a decline characteristic positive indicator species meadows,...

The microbiological characteristics associated with disease-suppressive peats are unclear. We used a bioassay for Pythium sylvaticum-induced damping-off of cress seedlings to identify conducive and suppressive peats. Microbial activity in unconditioned peats was negatively correlated with the counts of P. sylvaticum at the end of the bioassay. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) prof...

Legume species promote productivity and increase the digestibility of herbage in grasslands. Considerable experimental data also indicate that communities with legumes produce more above-ground biomass than is expected from monocultures. While it has been attributed to N facilitation, evidence to identify the mechanisms involved is still lacking and the role of complementarity in soil water acq...

Little is known about phosphorus metabolism in plants suffering from moisture stress. Several metabolic processes, which are completely dependent upon phosphorylated intermediates, are noticeably affected by moisture stress conditions. Photosynthetic rate decreases markedly in severely stressed plants (13). Rate of fixation of CO2 in the dark decreases (12). Above a diffusion pressure deficit (...

Groups of six to nine Merino Summary lambs were weaned in September (May drop) and December (September drop) on to three types of irrigated perennial pastureperennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), Ladino white clover (Trifolium repens) and lucerne (Medicago sativa), and one irrigated annual pasture-subterranean clover ( Trifolium subterraneum) . The weight gain of the weaners on white clover was s...

In 12 experiments in which white (Trifolium repens), red (Trifolium pratense) or Persian (Trifolium resupinatum) clovers, either with or without maize (Zea mays) silage, were fed to lactating dairy cows in northern Victoria, maize silage was shown to significantly (P < 0.01) reduce the incidence of bloat; 126 cases of bloat were recorded where the clovers were fed alone and only 3 cases were ob...

Clovers (genus Trifolium) are widely cultivated across the world as forage legumes and make a large contribution to livestock feed production and soil improvement. Subterranean clover (T. subterraneum L.) is well suited for genomic and genetic studies as a reference species in the Trifolium genus, because it is an annual with a simple genome structure (autogamous and diploid), unlike the other ...