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ARS Home » Plains Area » El Reno, Oklahoma » Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center » Livestock, Forage and Pasture Management Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #388261
Research Project: Sustaining Southern Plains Landscapes through Improved Plant Genetics and Sound Forage-Livestock Production Systems

Location: Livestock, Forage and Pasture Management Research Unit

Title: Registration of ‘Ahring’ little bluestem

Author
item Springer, Timothy
item CARR, BRANDON - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/2021
Publication Date: 3/10/2022
Citation: Springer, T.L., Carr, B. 2022. Registration of ‘Ahring’ little bluestem. Journal of Plant Registrations. 16(2):198-204. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20200.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20200

Interpretive Summary: Ahring little bluestem was cooperatively released by the Agricultural Research Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of USDA to provide wildlife habitat, grazing utilization, soil stabilization, water conservation, renewable energy, and horticultural landscapes in the south central and southern Great Plains of the USA. Two cycle of recurrent selection were used to create Ahring from little bluestem germplasm UO-2 (PI 676267). The superior characteristics of Ahring are greater seed germination and seedling establishment under field conditions. Ahring was tested under the experimental designation of ‘UO-2 C2’ or ‘UO-2 Syn-2’. Germination of seeds of Ahring was 14.5% points higher than germplasm UO-2 in a low water of potential (simulated dry conditions) and 17.5% higher than UO-2 in water. Seed of Ahring had significantly greater field emergence. The field emergence of Ahring was 38.3% compared with the cultivars ‘Cimarron’ (31.9%) or ‘Aldous’ (26.9%). In addition, Ahring little bluestem had identical or improved performance compared with that of Aldous and/or Cimarron little bluestem for forage production and forage quality traits.

Technical Abstract: ‘Ahring’ little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, was selected for 7-d greater laboratory sessile spikelet (seed) germination in water of '0.8 MPa potential. Two cycles of recurrent selection were used to develop Ahring from little bluestem germplasm ‘UO-2, PI 676267’. Cycle 1 consisted of germinating 3,500 open-pollinated pure-seeds of germplasm UO-2 (designated UO-2 C0) in water of –0.8 MPa potential for 7-d. All spikelets that germinated in 7 d (~250) were selected to create population ‘UO-2 C1’. Cycle 2 selection was identical to cycle 1 selection except that population UO-2 C1 was used to create population ‘UO-2 C2’. The 7-d laboratory spikelet germination of Ahring was 14.5% points higher than UO-2 C0 in a water of potential –0.8 MPa and 17.5% higher than UO-2 C0 in deionized water. Sixty-days after planting, field emergence of Ahring (38.3%) was greater than either population UO-2 C1 (31.8%) or UO-2 C0 (22.0%) or the cultivars ‘Cimarron’ (31.9%) or ‘Aldous’ (26.9%). Therefore, recurrent selection for increased seed germination in a negative water potential resulted in a little bluestem population capable of greater field emergence. Ahring little bluestem is useful for wildlife habitat, grazing utilization, soil stabilization, water conservation, renewable energy, and horticultural landscapes in the south central and southern Great Plains of the USA. Ahring was cooperatively released by the Agricultural Research Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA.