Robert N. Carrow

Turfgrass Molecular Genetic Improvement for Abiotic/Edaphic Stress Resistance

Publisher Summary Turfgrasses are subject to many climatic, soil, pest, and use-related stresses. The frequency, duration, and intensity of stresses are increasing in response to factors such as reduced water availability, frequent use of effluent water and irrigation water of lower quality, installation of turfgrass facilities on sites with marginal soil quality, and increasing usage of recreational sites. These factors, when coupled with steady environmental pressure toward reduced water, nutrient, and pesticide inputs, mandate the development of more stress-resistant grasses. This chapter reviews some of the biotechnology methods that lead turf enhancement programs into the 21st century. The scientific methodology must fit within a system or framework with other components in order to significantly improve turfgrasses. The chapter also presents a strategic framework for turfgrass improvement that incorporates gene technology. Enhanced abiotic or edaphic stress tolerance in turf can provide improvements in performance under environmental extremes, functional root systems that perform equally well in stressed and non-stressed environments, improved water use efficiency, and improved nutrient uptake or utilization efficiency.

Precision turfgrass management: challenges and field applications for mapping turfgrass soil and stress

Spatial and temporal variation of soil, climate, plants and irrigation requirements are challenges for modern agriculture and complex turfgrass sites. Precision agriculture (PA) evolved to improve site-specific management based on obtaining site-specific information. The focus of this concept paper is on the emerging area of precision turfgrass management (PTM) with attention given to: (a) comparing the concepts of PTM and PA in terms of driving forces and challenges that must be addressed for PTM to progress in science and practice and (b) discussion of specific field mapping applications (purposes) for different turfgrass situations such as golf courses, sod production fields and sports fields. The field applications relate to site-specific management of irrigation, salinity, fertilizer application and cultivation. To illustrate the potential for PTM, different approaches that may be necessary for PTM compared to PA are discussed. The initial factor that hindered the adoption of PTM has been the lack of mobile sensor platforms that can determine both key soil and plant properties for turfgrass situations. This paper concentrates on PTM field applications that involve mapping of both soil and plant attributes, in contrast to only optical sensing mapping.

INFLUENCE OF SILICA ON GROWTH, QUALITY, AND WEAR TOLERANCE OF SEASHORE PASPALUM

Wear is a predominant stress affecting growth of turfgrass. Silica, which is deposited in epidermal cells of leaf blades, may potentially increase rigidity of a turfgrass stand. This research was undertaken to determine if application of silicon (Si) would enhance turfgrass wear tolerance, growth, and quality. This research was conducted during two consecutive field trials in 1998 on two greens-quality ecotypes established on a native Applying (Typic Kanhapludult) soil at the University of Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin, GA. Silica was applied to two ecotypes of seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz.) as potassium (K) silicate at two foliar rates (1.1 and 2.2 kg Si ha−1) and as a soil drench rate of 22.4 kg Si ha−1. Potassium chloride, which added K at the amount in the drench treatment (15.6 kg K ha−1), was also applied as a K check. Best turf quality responses on nonwear plots resulted from highest rates of Si application as well as from the K only treatment. A positive association was found between leaf tissue K concentration and turf quality scores, while increasing Si concentration reduced quality scores. Wear tolerance was enhanced either by K alone or by the high rate of Si and K. Turf growth was not affected by fertility treatments. Enhanced wear tolerance, due to application of either K alone or Si and K, reduced wear injury from 35% to 14% (K) or 20% (Si and K) averaged across both studies. This may be attributed to increased leaf turgor pressure or reduced total cell wall (TCW).

Novel approach for alleviation of soil water repellency using a crude enzyme extract from fungal pretreatment of switchgrass

Soil water repellency (SWR) caused by organic coatings on soil particles can lead to serious loss in crop production and turfgrass quality. In laboratory experiments, we tested the novel concept of direct application of enzymes to alleviate SWR. In a biofuel research project on fungal pre-treatment of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) for improved saccharification, enzymatic co-products (mainly laccase mixed with other trace enzymes) were produced based on fermentation periods of 18, 36, 54, and 72 days. We characterised enzyme activities of the 18–72-day crude enzyme extracts (CEE) and applied undiluted or diluted solutions (dilutions of 5-, 10-, and 100-fold) to eight air-dried, SWR soils from several golf courses. These soils exhibited water drop penetration times (WDPT) of 345–7439 s (i.e. moderately to very strongly hydrophobic) and all showed a large decrease in SWR to WDPT <60 s after application of undiluted CEE and various dilutions of CEE for 3 days with a 1 : 1 soil : solution ratio (10 g air-dried soil and 10 mL CEE solution). The observed decrease in WDPT was positively related to increased enzyme activity level for each soil in an exponential or logarithmic relationship. Most of the improvement in SWR was observed within 1 day. Enzyme activity was maintained to varying degrees in the soil solution for up to 5 days. These preliminary results suggest that it may be feasible to use direct enzyme application from CEE, as a biomass fermentation byproduct, for remediation of hydrophobic soils, which could also offer a cost benefit for biomass fermentation.

Turfgrass Nutrition and Irrigation Water Quality

Turfgrass sites are increasingly irrigated with low-quality water sources, which may complicate nutritional programs by excessive addition of nutrients or problem ions by causing imbalances. Irrigation sources of most concern are nutrient-rich reclaimed water (i.e., reuse water) and those containing high concentrations of soluble salts. Factors contributing to difficulties in fertility programming are (a) increased temporal and geospatial (by soil depth and across the landscape) variability in soil nutrient/ion status; (b) addition of high levels of chemical constituents to the soil–plant system via the irrigation water, irrigation water treatments (i.e., acidification), and soil amendments such as gypsum; (c) salinity leaching programs that also leach soil nutrients; (d) changes in irrigation lake water quality, such as seasonal fluctuations due to rainfall dilution (i.e., dry and rainy seasons), intake locations across the lake surface, or lake depth; (e) attention to environmental and sustainability issues; and (f) on saline sites, achieving fertilization goals are more complex, requiring attention to maintaining root viability, maximizing grass salinity tolerance, and addressing unique nutritional requirements of new halophytic grasses. Addressing these issues requires proactive and frequent soil, water, and tissue testing; appropriate soil tests; and improved means to quantify spatial soil nutrient and salinity status via spatial mapping.