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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #114182
Title: ESTIMATION OF NITROGEN FIXATION IN FIRST-YEAR ILLINOIS BUNDLEFLOWER

Author
item BYUN, J - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item EHLKE, N - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item DEHAAN, L - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item Russelle, Michael
item SHEAFFER, C - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item WYSE, D - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/5/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Illinois bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis) is an herbaceous perennial warm-season legume native to the Great Plains (USA). It is a useful species in erosion control, wildlife plantings, prairie restoration, and mine spoil reclamation. Its potential as a forage legume and a grain legume is being explored. Accurate quantification of nitrogen fixation by Illinois bundleflower is necessary to predict its nitrogen (N) contribution to agroecosystems such as pastures and other perennial polycultures. Proportion of N derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) and total dinitrogen fixed in the seeding year were estimated for three selected populations of Illinois bundleflower from the northern Great Plains (USA) grown in pure stands in three environments using the 15-N natural abundance, 15-N isotope dilution, and the total N difference methods, with wild senna (Senna hebecarpa) as the non-fixing reference plant.