Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T20:35:42.882Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cold tolerance and winter hardiness in Lolium perenne: I. Development of screening techniques for cold tolerance and survey of geographical variation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

F. Lorenzetti ,
B. F. Tyler ,
J. P. Cooper  and
E. L. Breese
F. Lorenzetti
Affiliation:
Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth
B. F. Tyler
Affiliation:
Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth
J. P. Cooper
Affiliation:
Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth
E. L. Breese
Affiliation:
Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Experiments were devised to establish suitable techniques of screening seedling material of Lolium perenne for cold tolerance under controlled conditions: these techniques were then used to distinguish between varieties and ecotypes from contrasting climatic regions. For the wide range of material used, greatest discrimination was achieved by 14 days hardening at 2 °C and 8 h photoperiod, followed by 2–4 days freezing at -8 °C in the dark. There were indications that the light intensity and/or temperature before and during hardening could considerably modify the cold tolerance.

The most useful criterion of cold tolerance was the percentage of tillers surviving 14 days after thawing. In some instances, death of tillers and whole plants continued after this time, and this tendency appeared to be related to growth habit; southern ecotypes were particularly susceptible.

Varieties from north Europe were generally more cold tolerant than ecotypes from the Mediterranean region, but tolerance depended also on the altitude of the original habitat. The cold tolerance of a population could, in part, be related to the average lowest temperature in the coldest month and in part to environmental conditions of solar radiation and/or temperature during the autumn in its place of origin.

Along with the experiments under controlled conditions, spaced plants of the same populations were grown in the field in order to evaluate winter hardiness under local conditions. The overall correlation between winter hardiness in the field and cold tolerance as assessed in the growth rooms was not high. Results from one year's field testing showed that indigenous varieties such as S. 23 and S. 24 were more winter hardy than foreign ecotypes and varieties, even if these came from colder climates and showed greater cold tolerance in the growth room.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , April 1971 , pp. 199 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Black, J. N. (1956). The distribution of solar radiation over the earth's surface. Arch. Met. Geophys. Bioklim. B, Bd. 7, H.Z., 165–89.Google Scholar
Busbice, T. H. & Wilsie, C. P. (1966). Selection of cold hardy lines of alfalfa with rapid recovery and fall growth. Report of 20th Alfalfa Improvement Conference, pp. 29–34. Pennsylvania, U.S.A.Google Scholar
Cooper, J. P. (1964). Climatic variation in forage grasses. Span 7,(1), 21–24.Google Scholar
Dexter, S. T. (1956). The evaluation of crop plants for winter hardiness. Adv. Agron. VIII 203–39.Google Scholar
Evans, L. T. (1963). Extrapolation from controlled environment to the field. In Environmental Control of Plant Growth, pp. 421–35. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Evans, K. H. & McGill, D. P. (1963). Response of some barley varieties to hardening and freezing during sprouting. Agron. J. 55, 147–9.Google Scholar
Heinrichs, D.H. (1959). Germination of alfalfa varieties in solutions of varying osmotic pressure and relationship to winter hardiness. Can. J. Pl. Sci. 39, 384–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, H. J. (1964). Effect of photoperiod on development of cold resistance in alfalfa. Crop Sci. 4, 302–5.Google Scholar
Larson, K. L. & Smith, Dale (1963). Association of various morphological characters and seed germination with the winter hardiness of alfalfa. Crop Sci. 3, 234–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, K. L. & Smith, Dale (1964). Reliability of various plant constituents and artificial freezing methods in determining winter hardiness of alfalfa. Crop Sci. 4, 413–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, J. (1956). The hardiness of plants. Ann. Soc. Agron. Mon. Vol. VI, 5–189. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
McColl, D. & Cooper, J. P. (1967). Climatic variation in forage grasses. III. Seasonal changes in growth and assimilation in climatic races of Lolium, Dactylis and Festucu. J. Appl. Ecol. 4, 113–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodger, J. B. A., Williams, G. C. & Davies, R. L. (1957). A rapid method for determining winter hardiness in alfalfa. Agron. J. 49, 88–92.Google Scholar
Schultz, H. K. (1941). A study of methods of breeding orchard grass, Dactylis glomerata L. J. Am. Soc. Agron. 33, 546–58.Google Scholar
Smith, Dale, (1964). Winter injury and the survival of forage plants. Herb. Abstr. 34, 203–9.Google Scholar
Thomas, W. D. & Lazenby, A. (1968 a). Growth cabinet studies into cold tolerance of Festuca arundinacea populations. I. Effects of low temperature and defoliation. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 70, 339–46.Google Scholar
Thomas, W. D. & Lazenby, A. (1968 b). II. Responses to pretreatment conditioning and to number and duration of low temperature periods. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 70, 347–54.Google Scholar
Thomas, W. D. & Lazenby, A. (1968 c). III. Cold tolerance of roots and shoots. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 70, 355–60.Google Scholar
Weibel, R. O. & Quisenberry, K. S. (1941). Field versus controlled freezing as a measure of cold resistance of winter wheat varieties. J. Am. Soc. Agron. 33, 336–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, C. N. & Biddiscombe, E. F. (1964). The winter growth of selected pasture grasses. Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 4, 357–62.Google Scholar
Wit, F. (1952). Techniques of breeding cold-resistant grasses and clovers. Proc. 6th int. Orassld Congr. (U.S.A.), 1607–12.Google Scholar