Soil acidity, temperature, and water relationships of four clovers in Sierra Nevada meadows

Abstract

Sites in meadows of the Sierra Nevada near Fresno, California, were studied to learn whether Bolander's (Trifolium holanderi Gray.), longstalked (T. longipes Nutt.), carpet (T. monanthum Gray.), and mountain (T. wormskioldii Lehm.) clovers occurred under the same soil acidity, temperature, and water conditions. In selected meadows, along transects within its community, 20 plants of a clover species were randomly selected. Due to a small population, only 10 plants of mountain clover were selected in one community. In soil next to each plant, soil temperature was measured at the l0-cm depth, and soil was subjectively classed as saturated, wet, moist, or dry. Plants were extracted for an independent study of their rhizobia relationships, and a sample of soil from the 5-cm to 15-cm depth was taken for laboratory analysis of pH. Across the sites examined, species distribution of clover appeared to be independent of soil pH. Carpet clover occurred in warmer soil than the other three species. Clover distribution was dependent on soil water category. Soil water relations among the four species, from wettest to dryest, were mountain, Bolander's, longstalked, and carpet clover.

Citation

Ratliff, Raymond D.; Harding, Ethelynda E. 1993. Soil acidity, temperature, and water relationships of four clovers in Sierra Nevada meadows. Res. Note PSW-RN-413. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 4 p