scholarly journals Evaluating Hybrid Bermudagrass Using Spectral Reflectance under Different Mowing Heights and Trinexapac-ethyl Applications

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Sullivan ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Alexander R. Kowalewski ◽  
Jason B. Peake ◽  
William F. Anderson ◽  
...  

Quantitative spectral reflectance data have the potential to improve the evaluation of turfgrasses in variety trials when management practices are factors in the testing of turf aesthetics and functionality. However, the practical application of this methodology has not been well developed. The objectives of this research were 1) to establish a relationship between spectral reflectance and turfgrass quality (TQ) and percent green cover (PGC) using selected reference plots; 2) to compare aesthetic performance (TQ, PGC, and vegetation indices) and functional performance (surface firmness); and 3) to evaluate lignin content as an alternate means to predict surface firmness in turfgrass variety trials of hybrid bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis]. A field study was conducted on mature stands of three varieties (‘TifTuf’, ‘TifSport’, and ‘Tifway’) and two experimental lines (04-47 and 04-76) at two mowing heights (0.5 and 1.5 inch) and trinexapac-ethyl application (0.15 kg·ha−1 and nontreated control) treatments. Aesthetic performance was estimated by vegetation indices, spectral reflectance, visual TQ, and PGC. The functional performance of each variety/line was measured through surface firmness and fiber analysis. Regression analyses were similar when using only reference plots or all the plots to determine the relationship between individual aesthetic characteristics. Experimental line 04-47 had lower density in Apr. 2010, whereas varieties ‘TifTuf’, ‘TifSport’, and ‘Tifway’ were in the top statistical group for aesthetic performance when differences were found. ‘TifSport’ and ‘Tifway’ produced the firmest surfaces, followed by ‘TifTuf’, and finally 04-76 and 04-47, which provided the least firm surface. Results of leaf fiber analysis were not correlated with turf surface firmness. This study indicates that incorporating quantitative measures of spectral reflectance could reduce time and improve precision of data collection as long as reference plots with adequate range of green cover are present in the trials.

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Rimi ◽  
Stefano Macolino ◽  
Bernd Leinauer

In transitional environments, turf managers and sod producers of warm-season grasses face the issue of winter annual weeds that can dominate dormant turf stands through the winter until late spring. The use of glyphosate to control weeds in dormant bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) has been well documented, but information is lacking about its effect on spring green-up of other warm-season grasses. A field study was conducted on two commercial sod farms in northern Italy (Expt. 1) to evaluate the effects of glyphosate applied on two different winter dates on weed control and spring green-up of ‘Zeon’ manilagrass (Zoysia matrella). A second study was carried out at the experimental agricultural farm of Padova University (Expt. 2) to assess the effects of a winter application of glyphosate on weed control and spring green-up of ‘Yukon’ bermudagrass and ‘Companion’ zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica). Each experiment was conducted from Jan. to June 2011, and glyphosate was applied at 1.1 kg·ha−1 on 8 and 21 Feb. in Expt. 1 and on 8 Feb. in Expt. 2. Spring recovery was evaluated by periodical visual ratings of green turf cover and by collecting normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVIs). Weed injury was visually evaluated on all plots 7 weeks after the 8 Feb. glyphosate application. The visual ratings of green cover were strongly and positively correlated with NDVI measurements. Glyphosate applied in February as a single treatment effectively controlled winter weeds in ‘Zeon’ manilagrass (Expt. 1) and ‘Yukon’ bermudagrass (Expt. 2) without negatively affecting spring green-up. In contrast, spring green-up of ‘Companion’ zoysiagrass (Expt. 2) was delayed by the application of glyphosate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-397
Author(s):  
Brian Schwartz ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Jonathon Fox ◽  
Jason Peake

Heavily shaded environments often limit the performance and persistence of hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis), therefore a field-based shade study was performed to determine whether different mowing heights (0.5 and 1.5 inch) or two trinexapac-ethyl (TE) growth regulator management treatments (control and 2 oz/acre) allow either ‘TifSport’ or ‘TifGrand’ hybrid bermudagrass to persist under 77% shade. Turfgrass quality (TQ), green cover, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and dark-green color index (DGCI) were evaluated on the two cultivars under a shade structure in Tifton, GA, during 2010 and 2011. Neither of the cultivars maintained acceptable TQ throughout the entire year under 77% shade, although ‘TifGrand’ displayed adequate TQ at the higher mowing height (1.5 inch) and demonstrated more shade tolerance than ‘TifSport’, as indicated by TQ, green cover, and NDVI. The TE application did not enhance the turf performance of ‘TifSport’ under 77% shade when mowed at 0.5 inch, but it improved turf performance of ‘TifGrand’ at the same height. The effect of TE application was cultivar and mowing height dependent under this heavily shaded environment, which warrants future study to determine the best management practices of these cultivars as well as continued efforts to develop new, shade-tolerant bermudagrass hybrids.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1241
Author(s):  
Stanko Vršič ◽  
Marko Breznik ◽  
Borut Pulko ◽  
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino

Earthworms are key indicators of soil quality and health in vineyards, but research that considers different soil management systems, especially in Slovenian viticultural areas is scarce. In this investigation, the impact of different soil management practices such as permanent green cover, the use of herbicides in row and inter-row areas, use of straw mulch, and shallow soil tillage compared to meadow control for earthworm abundance, were assessed. The biomass and abundance of earthworms (m2) and distribution in various soil layers were quantified for three years. Monitoring and a survey covering 22 May 2014 to 5 October 2016 in seven different sampling dates, along with a soil profile at the depth from 0 to 60 cm, were carried out. Our results showed that the lowest mean abundance and biomass of earthworms in all sampling periods were registered along the herbicide strip (within the rows). The highest abundance was found in the straw mulch and permanent green cover treatments (higher than in the control). On the plots where the herbicide was applied to the complete inter-row area, the abundance of the earthworm community decreased from the beginning to the end of the monitoring period. In contrast, shallow tillage showed a similar trend of declining earthworm abundance, which could indicate a deterioration of soil biodiversity conditions. We concluded that different soil management practices greatly affect the soil’s environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), especially in the upper soil layer (up to 15 cm deep), which affects the abundance of the earthworm community. Our results demonstrated that these practices need to be adapted to the climate and weather conditions, and also to human impacts.


2020 ◽  
pp. 7-30
Author(s):  
Md. Golam Mostafa ◽  
Syed Arvin Hassan ◽  
Md. Ehsanul Haq ◽  
Md. Ahasan Habib ◽  
Kaniz Fatema ◽  
...  

A field experiment was conducted in medium fertile soil at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during November 2017 to April 2018 in Rabi season with a view to evaluate the performance of wheat varieties under different weed control methods. The experiment was carried out with three varieties i.e. BARI Gom-28, BARI Gom-29 and BARI Gom-30 in the main plot and five weed management methods viz. control (no weeding), two hand weeding at 20 and 40 DAS, Panida 33EC (Pendimethalin) @ 2000 ml ha-1 at 5 DAS pre-emergence, Afinity 50.75WP (Isoproturon) 1500 g ha-1 at 25 DAS as post-emergence herbicide and Panida 33EC (Pendimethalin) @ 2000 ml ha-1 at 5 DAS + Afinity 50.75WP (Isoproturon)1500 g ha-1 at 25 DAS in the sub plot in split plot design. Nine different major weed species were found in the field such as Cynodon dactylon, Cyperus rotundus, Echinochloa colonum, Eleusine indica, Chenopodium album, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Brassica kaber, Leliotropium indicum, Vicia sativa. Results reveled that BARI Gom-30 contributed the highest grain yield 3.01 tha-1. Pre-emergence application of Panida 33EC controlled weeds significantly which showed highest growth followed by yield achieved in wheat. BARI Gom-30 in combination with Panida 33EC produced the highest grain yield 3.52 tha-1 while the lowest grain yield 2.09 t ha-1 was obtained from BARI Gom-28 with no weeding treatment. Results reveled that Panida 33EC (pre-emergence) was found more effective to controlling weeds in wheat. Results of the study finally reveled that Panida 33EC might be considered as a feasible option for combating weed and ensuring higher yield in wheat cultivation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 1932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Prudnikova ◽  
Igor Savin ◽  
Gretelerika Vindeker ◽  
Praskovia Grubina ◽  
Ekaterina Shishkonakova ◽  
...  

The spectral reflectance of crop canopy is a spectral mixture, which includes soil background as one of the components. However, as soil is characterized by substantial spatial variability and temporal dynamics, its contribution to the spectral reflectance of crops will also vary. The aim of the research was to determine the impact of soil background on spectral reflectance of crop canopy in visible and near-infrared parts of the spectrum at different stages of crop development and how the soil type factor and the dynamics of soil surface affect vegetation indices calculated for crop assessment. The study was conducted on three test plots with winter wheat located in the Tula region of Russia and occupied by three contrasting types of soil. During field trips, information was collected on the spectral reflectance of winter wheat crop canopy, winter wheat leaves, weeds and open soil surface for three phenological phases (tillering, shooting stage, milky ripeness). The assessment of the soil contribution to the spectral reflectance of winter wheat crop canopy was based on a linear spectral mixture model constructed from field data. This showed that the soil background effect is most pronounced in the regions of 350–500 nm and 620–690 nm. In the shooting stage, the contribution of the soil prevails in the 620–690 nm range of the spectrum and the phase of milky ripeness in the region of 350–500 nm. The minimum contribution at all stages of winter wheat development was observed at wavelengths longer than 750 nm. The degree of soil influence varies with soil type. Analysis of variance showed that normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was least affected by soil type factor, the influence of which was about 30%–50%, depending on the stage of winter wheat development. The influence of soil type on soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI2) was approximately equal and varied from 60% (shooting phase) to 80% (tillering phase). According to the discriminant analysis, the ability of vegetation indices calculated for winter wheat crop canopy to distinguish between winter wheat crops growing on different soil types changed from the classification accuracy of 94.1% (EVI2) in the tillering stage to 75% (EVI2 and SAVI) in the shooting stage to 82.6% in the milky ripeness stage (EVI2, SAVI, NDVI). The range of the sensitivity of the vegetation indices to the soil background depended on soil type. The indices showed the greatest sensitivity on gray forest soil when the wheat was in the phase of milky ripeness, and on leached chernozem when the wheat was in the tillering phase. The observed patterns can be used to develop vegetation indices, invariant to second-type soil variations caused by soil type factor, which can be applied for the remote assessment of the state of winter wheat crops.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandria G. McCombs ◽  
April L. Hiscox ◽  
Cuizhen Wang ◽  
Ankur R. Desai ◽  
Andrew E. Suyker ◽  
...  

AbstractCarbon flux phenology is widely used to understand carbon flux dynamics and surface exchange processes. Vegetation phenology has been widely evaluated by remote sensors; however, very few studies have evaluated the use of vegetation phenology for identifying carbon flux phenology. Currently available techniques to derive net ecosystem exchange (NEE) from a satellite image use a single generic modeling subgroup for agricultural crops. But, carbon flux phenological processes vary highly with crop types and land management practices; this paper reexamines this assumption. Presented here are an evaluation of ground-truth remotely sensed vegetation indices with in situ NEE measurements and an identification of vegetation indices for estimating carbon flux phenology metrics by crop type. Results show that the performance of different vegetation indices as an indicator of phenology varies with crop type, particularly when identifying the start of a season and the peak of a season. Maize fields require vegetation indices that make use of the near-infrared and red reflectance bands, while soybean fields require those making use of the shortwave infrared (IR) and near-IR bands. In summary, the study identifies how to best utilize remote sensing technology as a crop-specific measurement tool.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 641
Author(s):  
Alberto Jopia ◽  
Francisco Zambrano ◽  
Waldo Pérez-Martínez ◽  
Paulina Vidal-Páez ◽  
Julio Molina ◽  
...  

For more than ten years, Central Chile has faced drought conditions, which impact crop production and quality, increasing food security risk. Under this scenario, implementing management practices that allow increasing water use efficiency is urgent. The study was carried out on kiwifruit trees, located in the O’Higgins region, Chile for season 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. We evaluate the time-series of nine vegetation indices in the VNIR and SWIR regions derived from Sentinel-2 (A/B) satellites to establish how much variability in the canopy water status there was. Over the study’s site, eleven sensors were installed in five trees, which continuously measured the leaf’s turgor pressure (Yara Water-Sensor). A strong Spearman’s (ρ) correlation between turgor pressure and vegetation indices was obtained, having −0.88 with EVI and −0.81 with GVMI for season 2018–2019, and lower correlation for season 2019–2020, reaching −0.65 with Rededge1 and −0.66 with EVI. However, the NIR range’s indices were influenced by the vegetative development of the crop rather than its water status. The red-edge showed better performance as the vegetative growth did not affect it. It is necessary to expand the study to consider higher variability in kiwifruit’s water conditions and incorporate the sensitivity of different wavelengths.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Lu ◽  
Justin Sheffield

<p>Global population is projected to keep increasing rapidly in the next 3 decades, particularly in dryland regions of the developing world, making it a global imperative to enhance crop production. However, improving current crop production in these regions is hampered by yield gaps due to poor soils, lack of irrigation and other management practices. Here we develop a crop modelling capability to help understand gaps, and apply to dryland regions where data for parametrizing and testing models is generally lacking. We present a data assimilation framework to improve simulation capability by assimilating in-situ soil moisture and vegetation data into the FAO AquaCrop model. AquaCrop is a water-driven model that simulates canopy growth, biomass and crop yield as a function of water productivity. The key strength of AquaCrop lies in the low requirement for input data thanks to its simple structure. A global sensitivity analysis is first performed using the Morris screening method and the variance-based Extended Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (EFAST) method to identify the key influential parameters on the model outputs. We begin with state-only updates by assimilating different combinations of soil moisture and vegetation data (vegetation indices, biomass, etc.), and different filtering/smoothing assimilation strategies are tested. Based on the state-only assimilation results, we further evaluate the utility of joint state-parameter (augmented-states) assimilation in improving the model performance. The framework will eventually be extended to assimilate remote sensing estimates of soil moisture and vegetation data to overcome the lack of in-situ data more generally in dryland regions.</p>


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