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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2017

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Abstract

Research concerning the cultural practice of golf course fairways is important because legislation on pesticide reduction in Europe and North America may potentially cause serious weed problems. Establishing a strong, competitive turfgrass sward may aid in reducing the invasion of broadleaved weeds and Poa annua L. The objective of this research was to determine changes in the grass species composition and weed occurrence of in-use fairway turfs after repeated overseeding of three grass species separately: Lolium perenne L., Festuca rubra L., and Poa pratensis L., all at rates 300 kg ha−1. Overseeding was conducted with a disc seeder, alone or in combination with extra fertilizer (50 kg N + 34 kg P ha−1) in either May or September on three Danish golf courses from 2011 to 2013. Results showed no increase in the population of F. rubra or P. pratensis after 3 yr of overseeding. Lolium perenne was successfully introduced when seeded in autumn and when extra fertilizer was added immediately after overseeding. None of the overseeding treatments reduced the occurrence of P. annua, Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg., Bellis perennis L., or Trifolium repens L. The results are discussed in relation to the fact that the fairways were unirrigated and that they were open to play after overseeding.

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Abstract

Growing substrates, fertilizer inputs, and irrigation are important factors for grow-in of sand-based putting greens. The research reported here was triggered by grow-in problems encountered in 2015 after replacing garden compost with Sphagnum peat in the rootzone on a sand-based green at the NIBIO Turfgrass Research Center, Norway. A pot trial was conducted with the same type of sand amended with: (i) 20% (v/v) garden compost, (ii) 10% (v/v) Sphagnum peat, (iii) equal volumes of (i) and (ii), (iv) 10% (v/v) Sphagnum peat plus lime (200 g CaCO3 m−2), and (v) 10% (v/v) Sphagnum peat plus phosphoric acid, 5 g P m−2. The amendments were tested with or without preplant application of chicken manure (5 g N and 2.5 g P m−2) and at the two irrigation rates: 3 and 12 mm d−1. The pots were seeded with creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.), and turfgrass coverage and clipping yields were recorded for 5 wk after seeding. Turfgrass coverage developed significantly faster and clipping yields were significantly higher after amendment with compost than after amendment with peat or peat plus lime. Incorporation of chicken manure did not enhance grow-in on substrates containing full or half rates of compost but improved grow-in on peat, especially when combined with phosphoric acid. Excessive irrigation had no impact on turfgrass coverage but reduced clipping yields on substrates containing compost, compost plus peat, or peat plus phosphoric acid. We conclude that the grow-in problems encountered in 2015 were most likely due to inadequate quality of the Sphagnum peat.

Abstract

Area-efficient constructed systems for stormwater management and bioretention may involve large fluc-tuations in subsurface water levels. Such fluctuations challenge vegetation by forcing roots to exploredeeper layers to access water during dry periods. In a controlled experiment, we studied growth pat-terns and the ability of Phragmites australis roots to track subsurface water level fluctuations of differingamplitude and frequency in substrates with contrasting water-holding capacity. We found that P. aus-tralis was able to adjust its rooting pattern to considerable subsurface water level fluctuations (to wellbelow 120 cm), but that substrate characteristics can restrict its ability to adjust to larger fluctuations.Fluctuation amplitude was the driving factor for plant growth and biomass allocation responses, whilesubstrate characteristics and fluctuation frequency were less important. When not exposed to large waterlevel fluctuations, P. australis grew larger shoots and only explored intermediate rooting depths. Therewas a negative relationship between root and rhizome biomass, showing a resource-based trade-off andshort-term costs of adjusting rooting patterns to large water level fluctuations. These results indicatethat P. australis is suited for systems with considerable subsurface water fluctuations, but constraints onits flexibility need to be investigated.

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Abstract

Dollar spot is a destructive and widespread disease affecting most turfgrass species, but until recently it has been absent from the Scandinavian countries of northern Europe. In the fall of 2014, disease symptoms consistent with dollar spot were observed on a golf course fairway in Sweden. A fungus was isolated from symptomatic turf and identified as Sclerotinia homoeocarpa on the basis of ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, morphology, and culture characteristics. The ITS sequence was identical to isolates of S. homoeocarpa from the eastern and midwestern United States. Koch’s postulates were fulfilled, confirming the S. homoeocarpa isolate as the causal agent. This is the first report of turfgrass dollar spot in Sweden and only the second report of the disease from Scandinavia. Because pesticides are rarely used in the cultivation of Scandinavian turfgrass, dollar spot disease may prove difficult to control through conventional means and potentially represents a major threat to the industry.