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Annals of Botany 37: 487-500, 1973
© 1973 Annals of Botany Company

RESEARCH-ARTICLE

The Growth and Development of Simulated Swards of Perennial Ryegrass

I. Leaf Growth and Dry Weight Change as Related to the Ceiling Yield of a Seedling Sward

M. J. ROBSON

Botany Department, The Grassland Research Institute Hurley, Berkshire

Received: 14 September 1972   

The leaf growth, tiller production, light interception, and dry weight increase of a simulated sward of S24 perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) were followed during the development of the sward from a collection of two-leaved seedlings to a closed canopy with an LAI of 23, of which 15 consisted of green leaf laminae. The dry weight of live shoots increased exponentially at first, but then entered a long linear phase of increase. This was equivalent to a crop growth rate of 200 Kg ha–1 day–1 and a conversion efficiency of radiant energy (400–700 nm) of 7.2 per cent. Towards the end of the growth period the rate of increase of live shoots declined rapidly to zero and a ceiling yield was reached equivalent to 10 metric tons ha–1. Leaf growth continued at a high rate, but was equalled by the rate of leaf death, so that the weight of live leaf tissue remained constant. By this time the swards had achieved a stable tiller population (about 1 cm–1), each tiller bore a constant number of live leaves (about three), and the length of each newly expanded leaf equalled the length of the old leaf it replaced (about 70 cm). The swards were grown in Perlite so that in the absence of soil fauna dead leaves accumulated at the base of the sward where, after 12 weeks, they accounted for 19 per cent of the total weight of dry matter produced.


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