Trifolium pratense nitrogen contents after mowing 2017

Plants are exposed to various biotic and abiotic factors which they cannot evade due to their sessile nature. Therefore, they adapt their growth behaviour to local environmental constraints leading to phenotypic variation owing to their open bauplan. A major factor inducing phenotypic plasticity is the loss of biomass through herbivory or cutting. The Fabaceae Trifolium repens reacts to cutting by producing more but smaller leaves compared to uncut plants. As T. repens is a common fodder plant this effect might be of agronomical importance, as repeated cutting could reduce the amount of harvested biomass. A close relative to Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense L. (red clover), is used in many parts of the world as high-quality fodder plant due to its naturally high protein content and its deep root systems and high yield which give T. pratense preference over T. repens. It is grown in monocultures or in a grass mixture where it increases the nitrogen content of the surrounding plants. In a previous study, phenotypic plasticity of red clover during regrowth after cutting/mowing was analysed in a common garden experiment. After cutting, red clover produces, similar to T. repens, more leaves than uncut plants but they are of the same size than before cutting. Only the length of newly formed petioles is reduced when compared to uncut plants.