EFFECT OF CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENT AND MANAGEMENT ON GROWTH OF PASTURE SPECIES

Abstract

In considering the relationship of light and temperature to the growth of grasses and clovers it is important to know the actual conditions around individual plants in a pasture. Without that information the resuits of detailed experiments in glasshouse or laboratory conditions cannot be interpreted. For light intensity little comment is needed. It is well known that considerable shading occurs within a long pasture. Shorter plants are overshadowed by tall ones, but even for those taller plants a large proportion of their leaf tissue can be in dense shade. Consequently they will also assume a pattern of growth characteristic of shaded plants.