Abstract
Organically managed fields are highly attractive for wild animals of open agricultural landscapes because of a high percentage of green covered fields; for example, by green manures, catch crops and underseeds. Forage legumes are the main source of nitrogen in organic farming. Forage legumes are also important habitats for wild animals. The main ecological disadvantage is frequent mowing of forage crops. Increasing the time without disturbance in favour of wild animals may also decrease crop productivity and increase weed pressure. Here, we studied the effect of modified mulching dates on yield, nitrogen fixation and weed colonisation of lucerne green manure under pannonian site conditions during two vegetation periods in Eastern Austria. We compared a natural treatment, where the first mulching took place two weeks earlier and the second mulching two weeks later than in a conventional treatment with the latter. While in the first year the shoot dry-matter yield (−1.5 t ha−1), nitrogen yield and the amount of fixed nitrogen (−44 kg N ha−1) in lucerne were significantly lower in the natural than in the conventional treatment at the first cut, no differences could be detected in the second year. The seasonal amount of nitrogen fixation as well as the percentage of N derived from the atmosphere (Ndfa) at both cuts did not differ between the treatments. The natural treatment also had no disadvantageous effects on weed coverage. Our results show that prolonging the period without disturbance in lucerne crops had no adverse agronomic effects with only one exception: the 14-day shorter development period in the natural treatment at the first cut decreased shoot yield and nitrogen fixation compared with the conventional treatment in the first year, when weather conditions were humid before the first cut and dry afterwards. We therefore recommend shifting mulching dates and prolonging cutting intervals in lucerne on organic farms under pannonian site conditions in favour of wild animals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Avice J.C., Ourry A., Lemaire G., Boucaud J. (1996) Nitrogen and carbon flows estimated by 15N and 13C pulse-chase labelling during regrowth of alfalfa, Plant Physiol. 112, 281–290.
Avice J.C., Lemaire G., Ourry A., Boucaud J. (1997) Effects of the previous shoot removal frequency on subsequent shoot regrowth in two Medicago sativa L. Cultivars, Plant Soil 188, 189–198.
Berdahl J.D., Karn J.F., Hendrickson J.R. (2004) Nutritive quality of cool-season grass monocultures and binary grass-alfalfa mixtures at late harvest, Agron. J. 96/4, 951–955.
Braun-Blanquet J. (1964) Pflanzensoziologie. Grundzüge der Vegetationskunde, Springer, Wien.
Buhtz E., Boese L., Grunert C., Hamann W. (1990) Koordinierter Dezimalcode (KDC) der phänologischen Entwicklung für landwirtschaftliche Kulturpflanzen, Gemüse, Obst und Sonderkulturen, Feldversuchswesen 7/1, Berlin.
Buxton D.R. (1996) Quality-related characteristics of forages as influenced by plant environment and agronomic factors, Anim. Feed Sci. Tech. 59, 37–49.
Chalk P.M. (1985) Estimation of N2 fixation by isotope dilution: An appraisal of techniques involving 15N enrichment and their application, Soil Biol. Biochem. 17, 389–410.
Cralle H.T., Heichel G.H. (1981) Nitrogen fixation and vegetative regrowth of alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil after successive harvests or floral debudding, Plant Physiol. 67, 898–905.
De Kruijff R., Pietsch G., Freyer B., Friedel J.K. (2008) Pre-crop effects of alfalfa management systems on inorganic soil nitrogen and cereals in organic farming under pannonian site conditions, J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 171, 576–579.
De Santis G., Iannucci A., Dantone D., Chiaravalle E. (2004) Changes during growth in the nutritive value of components of berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) under different cutting treatments in a Mediterranean region, Grass Forage Sci. 59, 378–388.
Dierschke H. (1994) Pflanzensoziologie, UTB, Stuttgart-Hohenheim.
El-Hage Scialabba N., Hattam C. (2002) Organic agriculture, environment and food security, Environment and Natural Resources Series 4, FAO, Rome.
van Elsen T. (2000) Species diversity as a task for organic agriculture in Europe, Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 77, 101–109.
Frame J., Charlton J.F.L., Laidlaw A.S. (1998) Lucerne (syn. Alfalfa), in: Frame J., Charlton J.F.L., Laidlaw A.S. (Eds.), Temperate forage legumes. CAB International, pp. 107–179.
Fried M., Middelboe V. (1977) Measurement of amount of nitrogen fixed by a legume crop, Plant Soil 47, 713–715.
Gossen B.D., Horton P.R., Wright S.B., Duncan C.H. (1994) Field responses of alfalfa to cut frequency, cultivar, crown pathogens and soil fertility. I. Survival and yield, Agron. J. 86, 82–88.
Hadatsch S., Kratochvil R., Vabitsch A., Freyer B. (2000) Potentials of Organic Farming in the Region of Marchfeld (Austria), in: Alföldi T., Lockeretz W., Niggli U. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 13th International IFOAM Scientific Conference. 28–31.8.2000, Convention Center Basel, p. 158.
Herridge D.F., Pate J.S. (1977) Utilization of net photosynthate for nitrogen fixation and protein production in an annual legume, Plant Physiol. 60, 759–764.
Hole D.G., Perkins A.J., Wilson J.D., Alexander I.H., Grice P.V., Evans A.D. (2005) Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biol. Conserv. 122, 113–130.
Kelemen J., Zuna-Kratky T., Weiß P., Teufelbauer N., Widler J., Schmidt J. (2003) Wirkungsgefüge Biolandbau und Artenschutz. Attraktivität von biologisch bewirtschafteten Feldern für Indikatorarten der offenen Agrarlandschaft im pannonischen Raum. Bericht an das Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft, Distelverein, Deutsch-Wagram, pp. 52.
Kelemen-Finan J., Frühauf J. (2005) Einfluss des biologischen und konventionellen Landbaus sowie verschiedener Raumparameter auf bodenbrütende Vögel und Niederwild in der Ackerbaulandschaft: Problemanalyse — praktische Lösungsansätze, Synthese. Forschungsbericht im Auftrag des BMLFUW, Teilbericht 1.
Kim T.H., Ourry A., Boucaud J., Lemaire G. (1993) Partitioning of nitrogen derived from N2 fixation and reserves in nodulated Medicago sativa L. during regrowth, J. Exp. Bot., Vol. 44, 555–562.
Lamb J.F.S., Sheaffer C.C., Samac D.A. (2003) Population density and cut maturity effects on leaf and stem yield in alfalfa, Agron. J. 95, 635–641.
Latheef M.A., Caddel J.K., Berberet R.C., Stritzke J.F. (1988) Alfalfa forage yield, stand persistence, and weed colonization as influenced by variable first cut in Oklahoma, J. Prod. Agric. 1, 155–159.
Leach G.J. (1968) The growth of lucerne plant after cutting: the effects of cutting at different stages of maturity and at different intensities, Aust. J. Agr. Res. 19, 517–530.
Lemaire G., Khaity M., Onillon B., Allirand J.M., Chartier M., Gosse G. (1992) Dynamics of accumulation and partitioning of N in leaves, stems and roots of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) in a dense copy, Ann. Bot.-London 70, 429–435.
Lloveras J., Ferran J., Alvarez A., Torres L. (1998) Cut management effects on alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) production and quality in Mediterranean areas, Grass Forage Sci. 53, 88–92.
Loges R., Kaske A., Taube F. (1999) Dinitrogen fixation and residue nitrogen of different managed legumes and nitrogen uptake of subsequent winter wheat, in: Olesen J.E., Eltun R., Gooding M.J., Jensen E.S., Köpke U. (Eds.), Designing and testing crop rotations for organic farming. Proceeding from an international workshop. DARCOF Report 1/1999, pp. 181–190.
Martiniello P., Paoletti R., Berardo N. (1997) Effect of phonological stages on dry matter and quality components in lucerne, Eur. J. Agron. 6, 79–87.
Moder K. (1998) Comparison of some different statistical analyses to eliminate soil effects, Bodenkultur 49, 3–11.
Pate J.S., Herridge D.F. (1978) Partitioning and utilization of net photosynthate in nodulated annual legumes, J. Exp. Bot. 29, 401–412.
Petersen S., Axelsen J.A., Tybirk K., Aude E., Vestergaard P. (2006) Effects of organic farming on field boundary vegetation in Denmark, Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 113, 302–306.
Pietsch G., Friedel J.K., Freyer B. (2007) Lucerne management in an organic farming system under dry site conditions, Field Crop. Res. 102, 104–118.
Pullen D.W.M., Cowell P.A. (1997) An evaluation of the performance of mechanical weeding mechanisms for use in high speed inter-row weeding of arable crops, J. Agr. Eng. Res. 67, 27–34.
Putnam D., Russelle M., Orloff S., Kuhn J., Fitzhugh L., Godfrey L., Kiess A., Long R. (2001) Alfalfa, wildlife and the environment. California Alfalfa and Forage Association, http://www.calhay.org/pdf/BrochureFINAL.pdf.
Reiter K., Schmidtke K., Rauber R. (2002) Estimation of symbiotic N2 fixation by a low-level, large-scale 15N application technique, Soil Biol. Biochem. 34, 303–314.
Sheaffer C.C., Martin N.P., Lamb J.F.S., Cuomo G.R., Jewett J.G., Quering S.R. (2000) Leaf and stem properties of alfalfa entries, Agron. J. 92, 733–739.
Stein-Bachinger K., Sperzel N., Petersen H. (2001) Naturschutzorientierte Nutzungsregime im ökologischen Feldfutterbau, Teil b: Landwirtschaftliche Aspekte, in: Reents H.J. (Ed.), Beiträge zur 6. Wissenschaftstagung zum Ökologischen Landbau ‘Von Leit-Bildern zu Leit-Linien’. 6.-8.3.2001 Freising-Weihenstephan, pp. 151–154.
Stein-Bachinger K., Fuchs S. (2004) Wie kann der Lebensraum Acker im großflächigen Ökologischen Landbau für Feldvögel und Feldhase optimiert werden? Landbauforsch. Volk., FAL Agricultural Research, Special Issue 272, pp. 1–14.
Stein-Bachinger K., Zander P., Schobert H., Frielinghaus H. (2005) New ways of increasing biodiversity on organic farms and their effects on profitability: the nature conservation farm Brodowin, in: Köpke U., Niggli U., Neuhoff D., Cornish P., Lockeretz W., Willer, H. (Eds.), ISOFAR — Proceedings of the Conference ‘Researching Sustainable Systems’. 21.-23.9.2005, Adelaide, pp. 468–471.
Stolze M., Piorr A., Häring A.M., Dabbert S. (2000) Environmental impacts of organic farming in Europe, Organic Farming in Europe: Economics and Policy, Vol. 6. University Stuttgart-Hohenheim.
Ta T.C., Faris M.A. (1987) Effects of alfalfa proportions and clipping frequencies on timothy-alfalfa mixtures. II. Nitrogen fixation and transfer, Agron. J. 79, 820–824.
Teixeira E.I., Moot D.J., Mickelbart M.V. (2007) Seasonal patterns of root C and N reserves of lucerne crops (Medicago sativa L.) grown in a temperate climate were affected by defoliation regime, Eur. J. Agron. 26, 10–20.
Turner R., Lennartsson M.E.K., Bond W., Grundy A.C., Whitehouse D. (1999) Organic weed control — getting it right in time, in: Proceedings 1999 Brighton Conference — Weeds, Brighton, UK, pp. 969–974.
Veronesi F., Mariani A., Falcinelli M., Arcioni S. (1981) Adaptation of two lucerne populations to different cutting regimes, Agronomie 1, 733–738.
Volenec J.J. (1999) Physiological control of alfalfa growth and yield, in: Smith D.L., Hamel C. (Eds.), Crop Yield — Physiology and Processes, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg.
Wivstad M., Salomonsson L., Salomonsson A.C. (1996) Effects of green manure, organic fertilizers and urea on yield and grain quality of spring wheat, Acta Agric. Scand. 46, 169–177.
WRB (1998) World reference base for soil resources, FAO, Rome, p. 96.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Pietsch, G., Hrbek, R., Laubhann, D. et al. Effect of mulching dates modified for nature conservation on the yield and nitrogen fixation of green manure lucerne crops. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 29, 353–362 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008056
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008056