Abstract
Background and aims
While N2-fixation in diversified grasslands including forage legumes and non-legumes has been widely studied, N2-fixation in swards containing only forage legumes remains unclear. In this study, we investigated N2-fixation in pure stands and mixtures of three forage legumes.
Methodology
N2-fixation, dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) yields were quantified in a field experiment for red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) pure stands and mixtures using the isotope dilution method.
Results
All three forage legume species derived most (around 85%) of their N from atmospheric N2-fixation (%Ndfa). However, no positive effect of species diversity was found in any of the mixtures. Species composition of the forage legume mixtures affected the amount of N from N2-fixation by affecting DM production and N accumulation of the species, where the seasonal amount of N2-fixation ranged from 370 to 500 kg N ha−1; which was highest in the presence of red clover.
Conclusions
We found that mixtures of the three forage legumes were highly productive, but did not show positive advantages compared to the red clover pure stands in terms of DM, N yield and %Ndfa.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anglade J, Billen G, Garnier J (2015) Relationships for estimating N2 fixation in legumes: incidence for N balance of legume-based cropping systems in Europe. Ecosphere 6:1–24
Barber L, Joern B, Volenec J, Cunningham S (1996) Supplemental nitrogen effects on alfalfa regrowth and nitrogen mobilization from roots. Crop Sci 36:1217–1223
Black AD, Laidlaw A, Moot D, O'Kiely P (2009) Comparative growth and management of white and red clovers. Irish J Agr Food Res 48:149–166
Bouxin A (2014) Food and feed statistical year book 2014. FEFAC, European feed manufactures federation´, Brussels, Belgium (http://www.Fefac.Eu/files/65464.Pdf. Accessed on 16 Sept 2016)
Burchill W, James EK, Li D, Lanigan GJ, Williams M, Iannetta PPM, Humphreys J (2014) Comparisons of biological nitrogen fixation in association with white clover (Trifolium repens L.) under four fertiliser nitrogen inputs as measured using two 15N techniques. Plant Soil 385(1–2):287–302
Carlsson G, Huss-Danell K (2003) Nitrogen fixation in perennial forage legumes in the field. Plant Soil 253:353–372
Carlsson G, Huss-Danell K (2014) Does nitrogen transfer between plants confound 15N-based quantifications of N2 fixation? Plant Soil 374:345–358
Carlsson G, Palmborg C, Jumpponen A, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Högberg P, Huss-Danell K (2009) N2 fixation in three perennial Trifolium species in experimental grasslands of varied plant species richness and composition. Plant Ecol 205:87–104
Carlsson G, Mårtensson LM, Prade T, Svensson SE, Jensen ES (2017) Perennial species mixtures for multifunctional production of biomass on marginal land. GCB Bioenergy 9:191–201
Chalk PM, Inácio CT, Balieiro FC, Rouws JR (2016) Do techniques based on 15N enrichment and 15N natural abundance give consistent estimates of the symbiotic dependence of N2-fixing plants? Plant Soil 399:415–426
Core Team R (2016) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. In: R foundation for statistical computing. Austria. URL, Vienna https://www.R-project.org/
Dhamala NR, Rasmussen J, Carlsson G, Søegaard K, Eriksen J (in press) N transfer in three-species grass-clover mixtures with chicory, ribwort plantain or caraway. Plant Soil. doi:10.1007/s11104-016-3088-6
Elgersma A, Søegaard K (2016) Effects of species diversity on seasonal variation in herbage yield and nutritive value of seven binary grass-legume mixtures and pure grass under cutting. Eur J Agron 78:73–83
Eriksen J, Askegaard M, Søegaard K (2008) Residual effect and nitrate leaching in grass-arable rotations: effect of grassland proportion, sward type and fertilizer history. Soil Use Manage 24:373–382
Fowler D, Coyle M, Skiba U, Sutton MA, Cape JN, Reis S, Sheppard LJ, Jenkins A, Grizzetti B, Galloway JN (2013) The global nitrogen cycle in the twenty-first century. Phil Trans R Soc B 368:20130164
Frame J (2005) Forage legumes for temperate grasslands. Rome: food and agriculture organization of the United Nations. Science Publishers, Inc., Plymouth, pp 101–115, 200–224
Frankow-Lindberg B, Dahlin AS (2013) N2 fixation, N transfer, and yield in grassland communities including a deep-rooted legume or non-legume species. Plant Soil 370:567–581
Fustec J, Lesuffleur F, Mahieu S, Cliquet JB (2010) Nitrogen rhizodeposition of legumes. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 30:57–66
Glover JD, Culman SW, DuPont ST, Broussard W, Young L, Mangan ME, Mai JG, Crews TE, DeHaan LR, Buckley DH (2010) Harvested perennial grasslands provide ecological benchmarks for agricultural sustainability. Agric Ecosyst Environ 137:3–12
Hector A (1998) The effect of diversity on productivity: detecting the role of species complementarity. Oikos 82:597–599
Høgh-Jensen H, Schjoerring JK (2000) Below-ground nitrogen transfer between different grassland species: direct quantification by 15N leaf feeding compared with indirect dilution of soil 15N. Plant Soil 227:171–183
Jacot KA, Lüscher A, Nösberger J, Hartwig UA (2000) Symbiotic N2 fixation of various legume species along an altitudinal gradient in the Swiss alps. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1043–1052
Kelner DJ, Vessey JK, Entz MH (1997) The nitrogen dynamics of 1-, 2-and 3-year stands of alfalfa in a cropping system. Agric Ecosyst Environ 64:1–10
Kirwan L, Lüscher A, Sebastia M, Finn J, Collins R, Porqueddu C, Helgadottir A, Baadshaug O, Brophy C, Coran C (2007) Evenness drives consistent diversity effects in intensive grassland systems across 28 European sites. J Ecol 95:530–539
Louarn G, Pereira-Lopès E, Fustec J, Mary B, Voisin AS, de Faccio Carvalho PC, Gastal F (2015) The amounts and dynamics of nitrogen transfer to grasses differ in alfalfa and white clover-based grass-legume mixtures as a result of rooting strategies and rhizodeposit quality. Plant Soil 389:289–305
Lüscher A, Mueller-Harvey I, Soussana JF, Rees R, Peyraud JL (2014) Potential of legume-based grassland–livestock systems in Europe: a review. Grass Forage Sci 69:206–228
Nyfeler D, Huguenin-Elie O, Suter M, Frossard E, Lüscher A (2011) Grass–legume mixtures can yield more nitrogen than legume pure stands due to mutual stimulation of nitrogen uptake from symbiotic and non-symbiotic sources. Agric Ecosyst Environ 140:155–163
Palmborg C, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Jumpponen A, Carlsson G, Huss-Danell K, Högberg P (2005) Inorganic soil nitrogen under grassland plant communities of different species composition and diversity. Oikos 110:271–282
Phelan P, Moloney A, McGeough E, Humphreys J, Bertilsson J, O’Riordan E, O’Kiely P (2015) Forage legumes for grazing and conserving in ruminant production systems. Crit Rev Plant Sci 34:281–326
Pirhofer-Walzl K, Rasmussen J, Høgh-Jensen H, Eriksen J, Søegaard K, Rasmussen J (2012) Nitrogen transfer from forage legumes to nine neighbouring plants in a multi-species grassland. Plant Soil 350:71–84
Rasmussen J, Søegaard K, Pirhofer-Walzl K, Eriksen J (2012) N2-fixation and residual N effect of four legume species and four companion grass species. Eur J Agron 36:66–74
Rasmussen J, Gylfadóttir T, Loges R, Eriksen J, Helgadóttir Á (2013) Spatial and temporal variation in N transfer in grass–white clover mixtures at three northern European field sites. Soil Biol Biochem 57:654–662
Roscher C, Thein S, Schmid B, Scherer-Lorenzen M (2008) Complementary nitrogen use among potentially dominant species in a biodiversity experiment varies between two years. J Ecol 96:477–488
Sanderson M, Soder K, Muller L, Klement K, Skinner R, Goslee S (2005) Forage mixture productivity and botanical composition in pastures grazed by dairy cattle. Agron J 97:1465–1471
Schulze J (2004) How are nitrogen fixation rates regulated in legumes? J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 167:125–137
Solati Z, Jørgensen U, Eriksen J, Søegaard K (2017) Dry matter yield, chemical composition and estimated extractable protein of legume and grass species during the spring growth. J Sci Food Agric. doi:10.1002/jsfa.8258
Thompson L, Harper JL (1988) The effect of grasses on the quality of transmitted radiation and its influence on the growth of white clover Trifolium repens. Oecologia 75:343–347
Tilman D, Hill J, Lehman C (2006) Carbon-negative biofuels from low-input high-diversity grassland biomass. Science 314:1598–1600
Tomm GO, Walley FL, van Kessel C, Slinkard AE (1995) Nitrogen cycling in an alfalfa and bromegrass sward via litterfall and harvest losses. Agron J 87:1078–1085
Unkovich M, Herridge D, Peoples M, Cadisch G, Boddey B, Giller K, Alves B, Chalk P (2008) Measuring plant-associated nitrogen fixation in agricultural systems. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Canberra, Australia, pp 131–188
Wichern F, Eberhardt E, Mayer J, Joergensen RG, Müller T (2008) Nitrogen rhizodeposition in agricultural crops: methods, estimates and future prospects. Soil Biol Biochem 40:30–48
Wolf DD, Smith D (1964) Yield and persistence of several legume-grass mixtures as affected by cutting frequency and nitrogen fertilization. Agron J 56:130–133
Younie D (2012) Grassland management for organic farmers. The Crowood Press, Marlborough, pp 18–33
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Green Development and Demonstration Program (GUDP project MultiPlant) as part of the Organic RDD -2 programme, and coordinated by the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems (ICROFS). We thank the staff at Foulumgård experimental station for technical assistance and Margit Schacht (Aeces.dk) for proof-reading.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Euan K. James.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 15 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dhamala, N.R., Eriksen, J., Carlsson, G. et al. Highly productive forage legume stands show no positive biodiversity effect on yield and N2-fixation. Plant Soil 417, 169–182 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3249-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3249-2