Rhizomes and Roots Below Clipped Pinegrass Tillers Have a Higher Percent Carbohydrate when Attached to Other Nonclipped Tillers

Abstract

Percent total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC) was measured in rhizomes plus roots of pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens Buckl.). The influence of connecting rhizomes on % TNC was evaluated by comparing results from sods with severed rhizomes to results from sods with intact rhizome connections. Severing rhizomes had no effect on % TNC of rhizomes plus roots of nonclipped sods. However, for clipped sods, % TNC was lower if rhizomes had been severed. Presumably, when rhizome connections are left intact, surrounding nonclipped tillers translocate carbohydrates to rhizomes plus roots of clipped tillers within a sod. This result has important implications in the grazing resistance of pinegrass. Since grazing typically involves an uneven utilization of a grass stand, the ungrazed or lightly grazed tillers should play an important role in maintaining the overall vigor of a pinegrass stand.