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Increasing defoliation frequency constrains regrowth of the forage legume Lotus tenuis under flooding. The role of crown reserves

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Abstract

Repeated defoliation and flooding trigger opposite plant morphologies, prostrated and erect ones, respectively; while both induce the consumption of carbohydrate reserves to sustain plant recovery. This study is aimed at evaluating the effects of the combination of defoliation frequency and flooding on plant regrowth and levels of crown reserves of Lotus tenuis Waldst. & Kit., a forage legume of increasing importance in grazing areas prone to soil flooding. Adult plants of L. tenuis were subjected to 40 days of flooding at a water depth of 4 cm in combination with increasing defoliation frequencies by clipping shoot mass above water level. The following plant responses were assessed: tissue porosity, plant height, biomass of the different organs, and utilization of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) and starch in the crown. Flooding consistently increased plant height independently of the defoliation frequency. This response was associated with a preferential location of shoot biomass above water level and a reduction in root biomass accumulation. As a result, a second defoliation in the middle of the flooding period was more intense among plants that are taller due to flooding. These plants lost ca. 90% of their leaf biomass vs. ca. 50% among non-flooded plants. The continuous de-submergence shoot response of frequently defoliated plants was attained in accordance to a decrease of their crown reserves. Consequently, these plants registered only 27.8% of WSCs and 9.1% of starch concentrations with respect to controls. Under such stressful conditions, plants showed a marked reduction in their regrowth as evidenced by the lowest biomass in all plant compartments: shoot, crowns and roots. Increasing defoliation frequency negatively affects the tolerance of the forage legume L. tenuis to flooding stress. Our results reveal a trade-off between the common increase in plant height to emerge from water and the amount of shoot removed to tolerate defoliation. When both factors are combined and defoliation persists, plant regrowth would be constrained by the reduction of crown reserves.

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Acknowledgments

We specially thank Julieta B. Brunati for her help during the experiment and Dr. Federico PO Mollard (University of Alberta, Canada) for his critical review of the manuscript. We thank Pedro Insausti, Rodolfo Golluscio and Rolando J.C. León (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) for their invaluable support throughout the study. We also thank the Bordeau family, owners of Estancia Las Chilcas, who facilitated our work on their land for soil extraction. Finally, we wish to thank to the three anonymous reviewers for their comments and criticism who helped to improve the quality of the manuscript. This study was funded by grants from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA G–421) and “Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica” ANPCyT Foncyt–PICT 20-32083.

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  1. IFEVA-CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Avenida San Martín 4453, CPA 1417 DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gustavo G. Striker, Milena E. Manzur & Agustín A. Grimoldi

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  1. Gustavo G. Striker
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  2. Milena E. Manzur
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  3. Agustín A. Grimoldi
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Correspondence to Gustavo G. Striker.

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Striker, G.G., Manzur, M.E. & Grimoldi, A.A. Increasing defoliation frequency constrains regrowth of the forage legume Lotus tenuis under flooding. The role of crown reserves. Plant Soil 343, 261–272 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0716-z

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