Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecotypic differentiation in Medicago polymorpha L. along an environmental gradient in central Chile. I. Phenology, biomass production and reproductive patterns

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Burr Medic (Medicago polymorpha) is awidespread, polymorphic annual legume of Mediterranean origin, and as aself-reseeding, highly effective nitrogen fixer it has important value invarious dryland farming systems. In central Chile, it is naturalized along a1000 km long environmental gradient, from an arid zone(29°–31° S) to a perhumid one(37°–38°24' S). Comparative and experimental studiesof its ecotypic differentiation patterns along this gradient should be usefulinelucidating the evolutionary forces at work along environmental gradients, andalso for efforts to select annual legumes for pastures and fallow fieldimprovement in mediterranean climate areas. In this first paper of atwo-part series, we present results of two common-environmentexperiments conducted at a subhumid site in central Chile to compare vegetativeand reproductive traits in 69 populations of Burr Medic collected in 1988 and1994. Multivariate analyses based on 11 phenological and agronomic characters,including phenology and biomass accumulation, winter vigour and degree ofhard-seededness, showed that three principal components (PCs)explained nearly 70% of total variability, in both collections. For thelarger collection (1988), the diagram of dispersion for the first twoPCs – phenology, winter vigour and above-ground biomass –provided good discrimination between accessions from arid-semiarid andhumid-perhumid mediterranean zones. Onset of flowering was positivelycorrelated with both latitude and longitude, as well as mean annualprecipitation/potential evapotranspiration (PP/ETP) ofcollecting site; days from first flower to pod ripening was negativelycorrelated with PP/ETP. In contrast to reports from Syria and Sardinia, noclear trends in Burr Medic seed or pod-related traits was found along theChilean gradient, apart from the concentration of spiny pod accessions in thesouthern, more mesic end of the gradient. Winter vigour (according to asemi-quantitative analysis of growth) was greater in accessions fromthe warmer, arid and semiarid zones than in those from cooler, subhumid tohumidones. Both winter vigour and harvest index were negatively correlated with daysto first flower. Applied and evolutionary aspects of the results are brieflydiscussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aronson J., Kigel J., Shmida A. and Klein J. 1992. Adaptive phenology of desert and Mediterranean populations of annual plants grown with and without water stress. Oecologia 89: 17-26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson J., Kigel J. and Shmida A. 1993. Reproductive allocation strategies in desert and Mediterranean populations of annual plants grown with and without water stress. Oecologia 93: 336-342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson J., Del Pozo A., Ovalle C., Avendaño J., Lavin A. and Etienne M. 1998. Land use changes and conflicts in central Chile. In: Rundel P.W., Montenegro G. and Jaksic F. (eds), Landscape degradation and biodiversity in mediterranean-type ecosystems. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp. 155-168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avendaño J., Del Pozo A. and Ovalle C. 1993. Hardseededness under field conditions of Medicago polymorpha in the sub-humid Mediterranean zone of Chile. In: Proc. 17th International Grasslands Congress. Palmerston North, New Zealand, pp. 2205-2206.

  • Bounejmate M., Robson A.D. and Beale P.E. 1992. Annual Medicago species in Morocco. II. Distribution in relation to soil and climate. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 43: 739-749.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson N.M. and Russell J.S. 1975. Flowering responses to vernalization and photoperiod in annual medics (Medicago spp.). Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 26: 831-838.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson N.M. and Russell J.S. 1976. Effect of water stress on the phasic development of annual Medicago species. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 27: 227-234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson N.M. and Russell J.S. 1979. Effect of temperature on the development of two annual medics. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 30: 909-916.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocks P.S. 1993. ICARDA's approach to introducing ley farming. In: Christiansen S., Materon L., Falcinelli M. and Cocks P. (eds), Introducing Ley Farming to the Mediterranean Basin. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria, pp. 44-51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocks P.S., Mathison J.M. and Crawford E.J. 1980. From wild plants to pasture cultivars: annual medics and subterranean clover in southern Australia. In: Summerfield R.J. and Bunting A.H. (eds), Advances in Legume Science Royal Botanic Gardens., Kew, UK, pp. 569-596.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocks P.S., Craig A.D. and Kenyon R.V. 1982. Evolution of subterraneum clover in South Australia. II. Change in genetic composition of a mixed population after 19 years' on a commercial farm. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 33: 679-695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocks P.S. and Ehrman T.A.M. 1987. The geographic origin of frost tolerance in Syrian pasture legumes. Journal of Applied Ecology 24: 673-683.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper J.P. 1964. Climatic variation in forage grasses I. Leaf development in climatic races of Lolium and Dactylis. Journal of Applied Ecology 1: 45-62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cremer-Bach M. and Bach M. 1994. Annual Medicago species on non alkaline soils in Morocco. Angewandte Botanik (Göttingen) 68: 17-21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A. 1995. Phosphorus use efficiency of Medicago polymorpha in the 'secano interior' of central Chile. Cahiers Options Méditerranéennes 12: 83-86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A., Ovalle C. and Avendaño J. 1989a. Los medicagos anuales en Chile. I. Comparición con Australia. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 49: 260-267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A., Ovalle C. and Avendaño J. 1989b. Los medicagos anuales en Chile. II. Ecofisiología. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 49: 268-274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A., Ovalle C., Avendaño J. and Del Canto P. 1989c. Los medicagos anuales en Chile. III. Perspectivas de la rotación medicago-trigo en el secano interior de la zone Mediterranea. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 49: 275-280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A., Rodríguez N. and Carmen Lobos C.S. 1989d. Nutrientes que limitan el crecimiento de medicagos anuales en el secano interior de la zona mediterránea subhÚmeda. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 49: 36-40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A., Ovalle C., Avendaño J. and Del Canto P. 1989e. Adaptation of Medicago polymorpha to the subhumid Mediterranean zone of Chile. Proceedings XVI International Grassland Congress. IGC, Nice, France, pp. 1139-1540.

  • Del Pozo A., Ovalle C., Aronson J. and Avendaño J. 2000a. Ecotypic differentiation in Medicago polymorpha L. along an environmental gradient in central Chile. II. Winter growth as related to phenology and temperature. Plant Ecology (submitted).

  • Del Pozo A., Ovalle C., Aronson J. and Avendaño J. 2000b. Developmental responses to temperature and photoperiod in ecoypes of Medicago polymorpha L. along an environmental gradient in central Chile. Annals of Botany 85: 809-814.

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Pozo A., Garnier E. and Aronson J. 1999. Contrasted nitrogen utilization in annual C3 grasses and legume crops: physiological explorations and ecological consequences. Acta Oecologica 21: 79-89.

    Google Scholar 

  • di Castri F. and Hajek E. 1976. Bioclimatologia de Chile. Vicerectoria Académica de la Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago.

  • Ehrman T. and Cocks P.S. 1990. Ecogeography of annual legumes in Syria: distribution patterns. Journal of Applied Ecology 27: 578-591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrman T. and Cocks P.S. 1996. Reproductive patterns in annual legume species on an aridity gradient. Vegetatio 122: 47-59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emberger L. 1955. Projet d'une classification des climats. Annals de Biololgie 31: 249-255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewing M.A. 1989. The development of pasture legumes for the low rainfall cereal-livestock zone of southern Australia. In: Proceedings 5th Australian Agronomy Conference., Perth, pp. 197-211.

  • Ewing M.A. 1999. Annual pastures legumes. A vital component stabilising and rehabilitating low rainfall mediterranean ecosystems. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation 13: 327-343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewing M.A. and Howieson J.G. 1989. The development of Medicago polymorpha L. as an important pasture species for southern Australia. Proceedings XVI International Grassland Congress. Association Française pour la Production Fourragère, INRA, Paris, France, pp. 197-198.

  • Fox G.A. 1989. Consequences of flowering-time variation in a desert annual: Adaptation and history. Ecology 70: 1294-1306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox G.A. 1990. Drought and the evolution of flowering time in desert annuals. American Journal of Botany 77: 1508-1518.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galen C., Shore J.S. and Deyoe H. 1991. Ecotypic divergence in alpine Polemonium viscosum: genetic structure, quantitative variation and local adaptation. Evolution 45: 1218-1228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrera A., Ovalle C. and Longeri L. 1996. Estudio de efectividad de algunas cepas de Rhizobium meliloti con Hualputra (Medicago polymorpha) colectadas en Chile. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 56: 36-46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyn C.C. 1963. The annual species of Medicago. Scripta Hierosolymitana. Hebrew University Press, Jerusalem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howieson J.G. and Ewing M.A. 1986. Acid tolerance in the Rhizobium meliloti-Medicago symbiosis. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 36: 55-64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howieson J.G. and Ewing M.A. 1989. Annual species of Medicago differ greatly in their ability to nodulate on acid soils. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 80: 842-850.

    Google Scholar 

  • IBPGR 1991. Descriptors for Annual Medicago. International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, Rome, Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Junttila O., Svenning M.M. and Solheim B. 1990a. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on vegetative growth of white clover (Trifolium repens) ecotypes. Physiologia Plantarum 79: 427-434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Junttila O., Svenning M.M. and Solheim B. 1990b. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on frost resistance of white clover (Trifolium repens) ecotypes. Physiologia Plantarum 79: 435-438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesins K.A. and Lesins I. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae): A Taxogenetic Study. Junk, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loi A., Howieson J.G., Cocks P.S. and Caredda S. 1993. The adaptation of Medicago polymorpha to a range of edaphic and environmental conditions: effect of temperature on growth, and acidity stress on nodulation and nod gene induction. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 33: 25-30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loi A., Porqeuddu C., Veronesi F. and Cocks P.S. 1995. Distribution, diversity and potential agronomic value of Medicago polymorpha in Sardinia. Journal of Agricultural Research (Cambridge) 124: 419-426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz O. 1959. Selección deMedicagos anuales y descripción de algunas de sus características botánicas. PhD Dissertation, (unpublished).

  • Neuffer B. 1990. Ecotype differentiation in Capsella. Vegetatio 89: 165-171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuffer B. and Hurka H. 1999. Colonization history and introduction dynamics of Capsella bursa-pastoris (Brassicaceae) in North America: isozymes and quantitative traits. Molecular Ecology: 1667-1681.

  • Norman H.C., Smith F.P., Cocks P.S. and Nutt B.J. 1998. Reproductive strategies in Mediterranean annual clovers: germination and hardseededness. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 49: 973-982.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novoa R., Villaseca S., Del Canto P., Rouanet J.L., Sierra C. and Del Pozo A. 1989. Mapa agroclimático de Chile. INIA, Area Agroecológica, Santiago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollerenshaw J.H. and Haycock R. 1984. Variation in the low temperature growth and frost tolerance of natural genotypes of Trifolium repens L. from Britain and Norway. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge) 102: 11-21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ovalle C. and Del Pozo A. 1994. La Agricultura del Secano Interior. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Santiago, Chile.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ovalle C., Aronson J., Del Pozo A. and Avendaño J. 1990. The espinal: agroforestry systems of the mediterranean-type climate region of Chile. Agroforestry Systems 10: 213-239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ovalle C., Avendaño J., Del Pozo A. and Crespo D. 1993. Germplasm collection, description and selection of naturalized Medicago polymorpha in the Mediterranean zone of Chile. Proceedings XVII International Grassland Congress. Palmerston North, New Zealand, pp. 222-223.

  • Ovalle C., Del Pozo A., Avendaño J. and Aronson J. 1997. Características fenológicas y productivas de 34 accesiones de hualputra (Medicago polymorpha) colectadas en la zona mediterránea de Chile. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 57: 261-271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ovalle C., Avendaño J. and Del Pozo A. 1998. Productividad de accesiones chilenas y australianos de hualputra (Medicago polymorpha) en relación a la precocidad y a laaltura de corte. Agricultura Técnica (Chile) 58: 15-22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paredes M., Becerra V., Correa P. and Del Pozo A. 2000a. Diversidad isoenzimática en accesiones de Medicago polymorpha a lo largo de un gradiente climático en Chile, y relación con otras especies de Medicago. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 73: 479-488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paredes M., Becerra V., Rojo C., Del Pozo A., Ovalle C. and Aronson J. 2000b. Ecotypic differentiation in Medicago polymorpha L. in central Chile. RAPDs studies reveal little genetic variation. Euphytica (in press).

  • Pecetti L. and Piano E. 1993. Influence of the environment of origin on early dry matter yield and plant morphology in subterranean clover. In: REUR Technical Series 28. FAO, Rome, pp. 20-23 REUR Technical Series 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piano E., Pecetti L. and Carroni A.M. 1996. Climatic adaptation in subterranean clover populations. Euphytica 92: 39-44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prosperi J.M., Boumard P., Angevain M. and Mansat P. 1991. Répartition et adaptation écotypique de Medicago annuelles en Méditerranée occidentale. In: IVth International Rangeland Congress. CIRAD, Montpellier, France, pp. 413-416.

  • Puckridge D.W. and French R.J. 1983. The annual legume pasture in cerealley farming systems of southern Australia: a review. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 9: 229-267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinlivan B.J., McComb J.A. and Devitt A.C. 1975. Annual medics of Western Australia. Western Australian Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 3874.

  • Rapson G.L. and Wilson J. 1992. Genecology of Agrostis capillaris L. (Poaceae) - an invader into New Zealand. 1. Floral phenology. New Zealand Journal of Botany 30: 1-11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rihan J. 1988. An herbarium based ecogeographic survey of forage Medicago species in the Mediterranean and adjacent arid/semiarid areas., Rome, IBPGR Report 88/152.

  • SAS Institute Inc. SAS/STAT 1987. Guide for personal computers. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Small E. and Lefkovich L.P. 1986. Relationships among morphology, geography and infertility in Medicago. Canadian Journal of Botany 11: 41-76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squella F. 1981. Comportamiento de diferentes especies anuales de autosiembra (Género: Medicago y Trifolium) bajo condiciones de clima méditerránea árido. Reunión Técnica Anual de la Sociedad Chilena de Producción Animal, Santiago, Chile.

  • Wagner L.K. and Spira T.P. 1994. Germination, recruitment and survival in the weedy annual Medicago polymorpha in successive wet and dry years. American Midland Naturalist 131: 98-108.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Producción Vegetal, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 537, Chillán, Chile

    A. Del Pozo

  2. Centro Regional de Investigación Quilamapu, Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA), Casilla 426, Chillán, Chile

    C. Ovalle

  3. CNRS UPR 9056, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, 34293, Montpellier, France

    J. Aronson

  4. Centro Experimental Cauquenes, Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA), Casilla 165, Cauquenes, Chile

    J. Avendaño

Authors
  1. A. Del Pozo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Ovalle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Aronson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. Avendaño
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Del Pozo, A., Ovalle, C., Aronson, J. et al. Ecotypic differentiation in Medicago polymorpha L. along an environmental gradient in central Chile. I. Phenology, biomass production and reproductive patterns. Plant Ecology 159, 119–130 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015506914038

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015506914038

Search

Navigation