The Effect of Shading During Vegetative and Reproductive Growth on the Photosynthetic Capacity of Leaves in a Grass Sward

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Abstract
The decline in photosynthetic capacity of successive newly expanded leaves, which occurs as a vegetative grass sward increases in leaf area, was prevented in a field sward of S24 perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne L.) by protecting tillers from shading by their neighbours. This adds support for the view that the decline is caused by the shading of leaves during their expansion. However, in a flowering sward where there is no such decline, the photosynthetic capacity of leaves was not reduced by shading them with a plastic mesh during expansion, although it was by pegging down tillers so that they developed at the bottom of the sward.