Improving the Sustainability of Oak Woodland Forage and Productivity in San Diego County Through the Exploration for and Introduction of Nitrogen Fixing Annual Legumes

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Title: Improving the Sustainability of Oak Woodland Forage and Productivity in San Diego County Through the Exploration for and Introduction of Nitrogen Fixing Annual Legumes

Author: Graves, Walter L.; Rumbaugh, Melvin D.; Jarrell, Wesley M.

Date: 1991

Source: In: Standiford, Richard B., tech. coord. 1991. Proceedings of the symposium on oak woodlands and hardwood rangeland management; October 31 - November 2, 1990; Davis, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-126. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 333-336

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Station ID: GTR-PSW-126

Description: The oak woodlands of San Diego County are below their potential productivity due to the low levels of the most needed plant nutrient, nitrogen, associated with the common soils of this zone. Atmospheric nitrogen fixing legumes could address this deficiency. However, because of limiting environmental constraints, adapted commercial legume cultivars have not been available. By the early 1980's, a modest plant exploration program was begun to identify annual legumes with potential for adaptation to this region, locate them in their native or naturalized habitat, collect and reproduce an adequate number of these legumes' wild types and test them for adaptation. Trials established in 1984 and evaluated over a 4-year period indicate that a number of these wild legumes are adapted and are superior to presently available Australian cultivars. These encouraging results suggest continued testing and screening of legume materials that address the soils' nitrogen deficiency in the oak woodland rangelands of Southern California.

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Citation

Graves, Walter L.; Rumbaugh, Melvin D.; Jarrell, Wesley M. 1991. Improving the Sustainability of Oak Woodland Forage and Productivity in San Diego County Through the Exploration for and Introduction of Nitrogen Fixing Annual Legumes In: Standiford, Richard B., tech. coord. 1991. Proceedings of the symposium on oak woodlands and hardwood rangeland management; October 31 - November 2, 1990; Davis, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-126. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 333-336.