Jing Dai, Max Schlossberg, and David Huff. The Pennsylvania State University, 116 ASI Bldg., University Park, PA 16802
As salt problems become one of the most complex management issues for turf establishment and maintenance, turfgrass cultivars that are salt-tolerant during seed germination and vegetative growth are highly valuable. Current literature indicates that Poa annua L. (annual bluegrass) is intolerant to salinity stress. Our previous research indicates that greens-type Poa annua possesses a wide range of variation in salinity tolerance. Germination and hydroponic studies were conducted to determine relative salinity tolerance of greens-type Poa annua compared with other cool-season turfgrass species. Effects of increasing salinity stress on final germination percentage (FGP), germination rate (GR), clipping yield dry wt. (CYD), verdure dry wt. (VD), root dry wt. (RD), and the longest root length (LRL) were evaluated for 9 experimental lines of greens-type Poa annua, 2 cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), 3 cultivars of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.), and 1 cultivar of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). FGP and GR declined linearly or quadratically with increasing salinity for all grasses. Generally, CYD, VD, and RD decreased with increasing salinity; LRL increased at lower salinity levels but decreased at higher levels. Perennial ryegrass ‘Charger II’ and creeping bentgrass ‘Mariner’ exhibited the most salinity tolerance while Kentucky bluegrass cultivars the least. Salinity tolerance of greens-type Poa annua was intermediate; however, some experimental lines exhibited nearly equal salinity tolerance to that of ‘Mariner’. Our data suggest that greens-type Poa annua possesses moderate to good salinity tolerance during seed germination and vegetative growth relative to other cool-season turfgrass species and thus has potential to be used on golf courses with moderate salt problems affecting turf establishment and maintenance.
Back to Poster Session
Back to Short Abstracts
Back to The 2007 Joint AFGC and NEBCSA Conference (June 24-26, 2007)