The effect of soil moisture content on leaf extension rate and yield of perennial ryegrass

Abstract

Three experiments are described that were designed to evaluate the relationship between soil moisture and perennial ryegrass growth and leaf extension rate (LER) in loam or silt clay loam soil. When soil moisture was maintained at a range of proportions (0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25) of field capacity (FC) in a pot experiment in a glasshouse, 0.75FC had consistently higher growth and LER than 0.5FC and, to a lesser extent, 1.25FC. The quadratic relationship between herbage growth and amount of water applied to maintain target field capacity, was stronger than for that between LER and the amount of water applied, with a maximum response at an application of about 2.5 L/m2 per day. In a microsward (soil depth of 30 cm in boxes 56 cm × 72 cm) trial inducing drought by withholding water for a range of durations resulted in a progressive decline in LER. When soil moisture content fell to about 0.4 of that of the consistently watered control LER was less than 0.1 of the control. However within one week of receiving water, even in the relatively severe drought treatment, LER was not significantly lower than the control treatment. LER was quadratically related to soil moisture content when soil was drying or after rewatering. In a further experiment on the microswards, reducing soil moisture content to about 0.18 g/g by limiting water in May-June resulted in a severe reduction in LER and growth rate and a decline in tillering rate. However, after application of the equivalent of 3 mm precipitation per day in late June, while soil moisture content remained relatively low (about 0.2 to 0.25 g/g soil), LER and herbage growth increased rapidly to as high as in consistently watered microswards. In a treatment in which soil moisture content eventually exceeded FC, LER and herbage growth declined with increase in excess above FC, concurring with findings in the steady state soil moisture experiment. Implications of the data for prediction of production from sown grass swards using temperate maritime grass-growth models are that: (1) during drought, when rainfall resumes, regrowth will be influenced more by amount of rainfallthan soil moisture content and (2) excess soil moisture should be taken into account, including effects of reduced nutrient uptake and post-anoxia stress.