Plant Soil Environ., 2012, 58(7):334-339 | DOI: 10.17221/242/2012-PSE

Tolerance to mechanical damage in ten herbaceous grassland plant species

L. Breitsameter, K. Küchenmeister, F. Küchenmeister, J. Isselstein

Grassland Science, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

The establishment of plants with high damage tolerance may provide a means for soil protection on sites exposed to strong disturbance. In a pot experiment, we investigated the tolerance to mechanical strain of ten grassland plant species representing three growth form groups (cespitose: Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne, Taraxacum officinale; rhizomatous: Achillea millefolium, Elymus repens, Poa pratensis; stoloniferous: Agrostis stolonifera, Festuca rubra rubra, Poa supina, Trifolium repens). We hypothesised that growth form and pre-disturbance biomass allocation to the root serve as predictors of damage tolerance. With a tool imitating the action of cleated football boots or scratching chicken, we applied three standardized levels (moderate, medium, strong) of a torsional force which exceeded the shear strength of the sward and impacted on shoots and roots. Post-treatment shoot biomass in relation to shoot biomass of the non-treated control plants served as a measure of damage tolerance. Species, but not growth form groups, differed significantly in damage tolerance, with F. arundinacea and P. pratensis showing the best performance. Shoot re-growth was strongly correlated with relative post-treatment root biomass across all species and treatment levels (R² = 0.25, P < 0.001), but not with pre-treatment root biomass. We conclude that root resistance to mechanical damage is the prevalent determinant of tolerance to disturbance.

Keywords: Festuca arundinacea; physical disturbance; Poa pratensis; re-growth; root

Published: July 31, 2012  Show citation