Technical
WRONG Weather, Wrong GRASSES! I
t’s one thing predicting weather, but how do you predict what characteristics to breed into an amenity grass with all the unpredictability of the challenges
thrown at us by the weather? If hard winters are going to become the norm, then cold tolerance and winter hardiness are going to be very important traits in grasses for our football and rugby grounds. Winter hardiness has long been a
breeding objective by the Euro Grass breeders as their material cuts across a wide European climatic region, and cold tolerance and winter hardiness are important for areas such as the Scandinavian countries. We in the UK experience almost
The UK climate can only be described as variable. I can remember my grandparents talking about the floods in the 1950s, and the winter of 1963. Most of us can remember the summer of 1976 and, more recently, last winter. By the time this article goes to print, we could be in the thick of another hard winter, if the forecasters are to be believed.
Simon Taylor, UK Sales and Marketing for Eurograss BV, discusses the characteristics that make good winter tolerant grasses
118 PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011
tropical conditions in comparison to Scandinavia but, nevertheless, we can see conditions that are very detrimental to growth, ground cover and visual appearance. Winter hardiness and cold tolerance can be classed as two separate characteristics, although very closely linked. Winter hardiness is a measure of the grass plant’s ability to survive the winter period, which can be a multitude of conditions from low temperatures, low light levels and disease attack. An ideal grass is one that comes through the winter with as little loss to plant population as possible.
Cold tolerance can be seen more as the ability of the grass plant to grow in cooler temperatures and not sustain cell damage under frosted conditions, a characteristic much sought after by most groundsmen. Plant selection by breeders is largely influenced by the location of their breeding programmes. If trial areas are located in mild regions, places such as near the coast, there is a low frost risk and, therefore, those plants susceptible to frost will not naturally be selected out. Equally, those trials based in regions experiencing longer periods of cold and sub-zero condition for several weeks during the year will present plants more capable of surviving those
conditions. It’s survival of the fittest according to the prevailing conditions. Greater differences in turf quality are seen during harsh winters compared with mild ones. Results show that the origin of material is also a key factor in determining a cultivars performance during and following a winter. The interaction of genes responsible for a grass plant being cold or frost tolerant is a complex process. Some grasses, such as fescues, naturally have molecular structures capable of surviving extreme cold. However, they are not suitable for our winter sports pitches. Perennial ryegrass is the main species, along with smooth stalked meadow grass, although the latter is only found in newly laid turf rather than being introduced to pitches through overseed renovation work. Climate changes are predicted to give
more unstable winter climates with more cycles of freezing-thawing. These climates will create new combinations of winter stresses and, in many cases, increasing stress for perennial plants. Even though research has uncovered important molecular systems involved in winter survival and tolerance to cool environments, there is still much more to understand about frost tolerance. We need to understand how plants sense temperature changes and more about the role of carbohydrate reserves within the plant during different types of winter climates. The winter months are normally associated with low light levels but, in fact, light intensity can be very high during bright winter days or under lighting rigs. Under these conditions, plants can sustain cell damage when trying to photosynthesis and respire in temperatures that do not support these activities.
A better understanding of these
processes is required in order for grass breeders to predict and stay ahead of the effects of climate change, and develop grass cultivars with superior combinations of winter survival and improved recovery for our winter sports
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156