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Effects of bracken litter and frond canopy on emergence and survival of ryegrass and white clover seedlings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

H. C. Lee  and
J. A. Cooke
H. C. Lee
Affiliation:
School of Biology, The Polytechnic, Sunderland, SRI 3SD, UK
J. A. Cooke
Affiliation:
School of Biology, The Polytechnic, Sunderland, SRI 3SD, UK
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Summary

Two field experiments, at Woolly Hills Farm, County Durham, UK, and a glasshouse experiment were carried out in 1977. Early in the growing season (May-July), a covering of bracken litter increased the number of ryegrass and clover seedlings which became established both in an area where bracken had been removed and where there were developing fronds. In a second experiment (August-October), bracken litter had no effect on seedling establishment in the open. Under the frond canopy, the absence of litter was beneficial to clover establishment. The frond canopy reduced the number of ryegrass seedlings by half compared with the numbers in the open. In the glasshouse, litter caused a small reduction in the numbers of ryegrass and clover seedlings becoming established.

The results suggest that litter may be either beneficial because of the prevention of desiccation in dry periods or detrimental, perhaps through allelopathic effects or shading. In terms of the successful establishment of a sown grass and clover sward, it would seem that litter removal by incorporation or burning is more justified in upland hill pastures because of the need to improve soil fertility than because of adverse effects of the litter itself.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 113 , Issue 3 , December 1989 , pp. 397 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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References

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