Nitrogen fixation by subterranean and white clovers in dryland cocksfoot pastures
Abstract
The amount of nitrogen (N) in clover dry matter (DM)
herbage derived from N fixation in subterranean or
white clover was estimated using the ¹⁵N enrichment
technique in a dryland grazing experiment at Lincoln
University. Clovers were established in separate mixed
swards with cocksfoot in February 2002. Nitrogen
fixation measurements were made between November
2002 and December 2005. Both clovers fixed 28 ±
0.7 kg N/t clover DM (R²=0.96). Using the 28 kg N/t
DM reported here and previously published clover
yields from the ‘MaxClover’ experiment in Years 1-7,
N fixation averaged 81 kg N/ha/yr (range: 41-106 kg
N/ha/yr) from subterranean clover and 46 kg N/ha/yr
(range: 18-90 kg N/ha/yr) from white clover. Annually,
total N fixed by subterranean clover exceeded that from
white clover in 4 of the 7 years.... [Show full abstract]
Keywords
Dactylis glomerata; Trifolium repens; T. subterraneum; dryland; nitrogenDate
2010Type
Conference Contribution - Published (Conference Paper)Collections
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