SSSAJ Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 21:360-365 (1957)
© 1957 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hagan, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Jones, L. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Hagan, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Jones, L. G.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Hagan, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Jones, L. G.

Relationships of Soil Moisture Stress to Different Aspects of Growth in Ladino Clover1

Robert M. Hagan, Maurice L. Peterson, R. P. Upchurch and Luther G. Jones2

ABSTRACT

The relationships of soil moisture content or soil moisture stress to growth in Ladino clover have been investigated in containers under controlled environmental conditions and in field plots. Relationships involving the following aspects of growth or plant functioning are reported: (1) transpiration rate, (2) green weight production, (3) dry weight production, (4) dry matter percentage, (5) shoot elongation, (6) photosynthesis rate, (7) respiration rate, (8) chemical composition, (9) flower formation (number and size), and (10) seed production.

Dry weight production of vegetative material, photosynthesis, and respiration rates were not affected appreciably until the moisture content in the entire root zone approached the permanent wilting percentage. Green weight production and shoot elongation were reduced significantly when the soil moisture content fell into the lower half of the available range. Chemical composition, flower formation, and seed production were also influenced by moisture conditions within the available range.

The different relationships obtained illustrate that the increasing soil moisture stress experienced by Ladino clover as the readily available moisture is depleted does not have a uniform effect upon various aspects of its functioning and growth. Thus there is no one simple and general relation between soil moisture conditions and all aspects of plant functioning. Some plant processes are relatively insensitive to increasing moisture stress over the available range while others are distinctly affected. Such soil moisture-growth relationships are also dependent upon plant characteristics, soil conditions, and climatic factors. Information on these relationships should suggest opportunities for more effective irrigation by considering both the soil moisture stress and the physiological stage of plant development in the timing of water applications.

NOTES

1 Contribution from the University of California, Davis, Calif. Presented before Div. I, Soil Science Society of America, Dallas, Texas, Nov. 17, 1953.

2 Associate Professor of Irrigation (Davis), Professor of Agronomy (Davis), formerly Research Assistant in Agronomy (Davis) and now Research Assistant Professor North Carolina State College, Raleigh, and Associate Specialist in Agronomy (Davis), respectively.

Received for publication December 5, 1956. Accepted for publication April 3, 1957.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Agronomy Journal Crop Science
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Vadose Zone Journal
Journal of Plant Registrations Journal of
Environmental Quality		 The Plant Genome
Copyright © 1957 by the Soil Science Society of America.