A field experiment from 2003 to 2005 at two sites examined the impacts of forage species and legume proportion on forage sward production. Grasses generally established rapidly and out-yielded swards high in legume content, although legumes did improve forage quality. Alfalfa was retained at greater relative biomass in mixed swards than swards containing clover. Legume persistence also varied depending on neighbouring grass species.
A greenhouse study examined competitive interactions between Canada thistle (a common pasture weed), white clover and Kentucky bluegrass during establishment. Although thistle was most susceptible to intra-specific competition, and strongly affected forage yield, the latter also influenced weed biomass. Competitiveness of forages depended directly on soil medium, emphasizing the importance of abiotic factors on vegetation dynamics in mixed swards. / Rangeland and Wildlife Resources
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:AEU.10048/930 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Gabruck, Danielle |
| Contributors | Bork, Edward (Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science), King, Jane (Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science), Hall, Linda (Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science), Cahill, J.C. (Biological Science) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 752574 bytes, application/pdf |
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