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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #345424
Title: Big bluestem and indiangrass from remnant prairies: plant biomass yield and adaptation.

Author
item VOGEL, KENNETH - Former ARS Employee
item JOHNSON, KEITH - Purdue University
item CARLSON, IRVING - Iowa State University
item Schmer, Marty

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2017
Publication Date: 1/12/2018
Citation: Vogel, K.P., Johnson, K.D., Carlson, I.T., Schmer, M.R. 2018. Big bluestem and indiangrass from remnant prairies: plant biomass yield and adaptation. Crop Science. 58:728–738.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2017.09.0572

Interpretive Summary: The native North American prairie grasses, big bluestem and indiangrass, are being increasing used in the USA as pasture and conservation grasses and are also being developed for use in multi-species biomass energy production fields. Big bluestem and indiangrass germplasm collected from numerous remnant prairies were evaluated in trials in eastern Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana. Biomass yield was used as a measure of fitness and adaptation and also as a measure of biomass energy value. Big bluestem and indiangrass accessions differed significantly for biomass yield at all locations. Accessions with the greatest average biomass yields typically had high yields at each location for both grasses. Accessions were identified which should have value in breeding programs. Results support the regional adaptation of the best accessions and cultivars for these grasses.

Technical Abstract: Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans L.) were collected from remnant Midwest prairies and evaluated as individual prairie accessions or strains in replicated space-transplanted nurseries near Mead, NE, Ames, IA, and West Lafayette, IN. Objectives were to determine the extent of differences among the accessions for biomass yield and forage quality, the extent of strain x location (SxL) interactions, and the relationship between geographical locations of collection sites and evaluation locations for plant biomass yield. Biomass yield has been used previously as a measure of plant adaptation and fitness. Big bluestem and indiangrass accessions differed significantly for biomass yield at all locations. Strain mean squares for biomass yield were 10X greater than SxL effects for big bluestem and were not significant for indiangrass indicating a general lack of specific adaptation across the Midwest region. Accessions with the greatest average biomass yields typically had high yields at each location for both grasses. Accessions were identified which should have value in breeding programs. Regression analyses were used to test the effect of north-to-south, east-to-west, and direct distances between the collection sites and the evaluation locations. The most important distance effects were the north-to-south effects which were significant for biomass yield for big bluestem at all locations and for indiangrass at West Lafayette. Moving northern big bluestem accessions south resulted in reduced biomass yields with the opposite effect when southern accessions were moved north. Results support the regional adaptation of the best accessions and cultivars for these grasses.