Ardovan Ghorbani; Ali Asghari
Volume 21, Issue 2 , August 2014, , Pages 368-381
Abstract
The relationship between the distribution of Festuca ovina and ecological factors such as topography, climatic and edaphic characteristics was investigated in 45 sites of Southeastern rangelands of Sabalan in Ardabil province.Within the determined sites, three large plots of ...
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The relationship between the distribution of Festuca ovina and ecological factors such as topography, climatic and edaphic characteristics was investigated in 45 sites of Southeastern rangelands of Sabalan in Ardabil province.Within the determined sites, three large plots of 10 × 10 m, 40 meters away from each other, were established along a 120–meter transect from lower slopes to highlands. The measurement of canopy cover parameters was performed in three plots with dimensions of 60 × 25 cm within the middle plot and the lower and upper plots were used as control. Different parameters including altitude, slope and aspect were calculated and averaged for three plots. In the middle plot, a soil profile was dug to a depth of 30 cm and soil samples were collected from two depths of 0-15 and 15-30 cm to measure soil parameters. Cluster analysis and principal components analysis (PCA) were used to classify the sites and the importance of parameters was determined by discriminate analysis (DA). Using multivariate analysis, the study sites were classified into four groups.The sites having high canopy cover percentage of F.ovina were classified in group 3, in which altitude, slope, and precipitation were higher than those of other groups, while temperature, salinity and pH were lower. This shows that this species is more compatible to higher altitudes and lower temperatures and dose not tolerate soil salinity. It is more compatible to a pH of 7.1 to 7.3. Organic matter, phosphorus and potassium will provide better conditions for growth. Results of principal component analysis showed that the two main components could explained 95% of the data variations, and the classification of sites using these two components confirmed the results of cluster analysis. According to the obtained results, the distribution of F.ovina was affected by several ecological factors including temperature, climate, soil, and aspect.
Aliakbar Emani; Aliashraf Jafari; Rajab Chokan; Ali Asgari; Farokh Darvish
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2009, , Pages 493-507
Abstract
In order to determine the best populations for both yield and quality traits, 36 populations of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) were evaluated using a triple lattice design in Ardabil, Iran during 2005-2006. The data were collected for heading date, plant height, dry matter yield and five quality ...
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In order to determine the best populations for both yield and quality traits, 36 populations of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) were evaluated using a triple lattice design in Ardabil, Iran during 2005-2006. The data were collected for heading date, plant height, dry matter yield and five quality traits dry Matter digestibility (DMD), water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and total ash over two years. Near infrared spectroscopy was used for estimation of the quality traits. Result showed significant difference among populations for all of traits except the ash, in the first year. The populations VIII (Russia), 782026 (Shahrekord) and 60075 (Tavankesh) with average values 5.76, 5.32 and 5.5 ton/ha had the highest total dry matter production, respectively. They were suggested as the promising populations for produce synthetic varieties. The populations of 60075 (Tavankesh), 60066 (Borojen), had higher and lower values for plant heights, respectively. For heading date, 418 (Australia) and 1317 (Iranian Gene bank), were recognized as latest and earliest populstions, respectively. The populations of 60071 (Borojen) and 078 (USA) had the higher values for DMD. Results of correlation analysis showed that DMD was positively correlated with WSC, while the correlation among ADF with both DMD and WSC was negative. Heading date was negatively correlated with both DM yield and plant height. The relationships among DM yield with both DMD and WSC were weak and non significant. It was concluded that the population VIII (Russia), 782026 ( Shahre kord) and 60075 (Tavankesh) with higher forage production and 60071 (Borojen) and 078 (USA) with higher quality were suggested as the best populations for cultivation in semi steppe area of northwest of Iran.