Productivity and persistence of prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth)

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Abstract
A field trial measured effects of the head smut fungus Ustilago bullata Berk, on forage productivity of prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth). Simulated swards containing different proportions of U. bullata infected and non infected plants were established in the autumn, and sward and plant parameters were measured over the following 15 months. Total herbage produced from swards containing only non‐infected plants was 27.3 t ha−1, while that from totally infected swards was 14.6 t ha−1. Infected plants produced fewer and lighter tillers than non‐infected plants when both were growing together in swards. Almost all the U. bullata infected plants died during an epidemic of bacterial wilt disease (caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. graminis (Egli, Goto and Schmidt) Dye), while most of the‘non‐infected plants survived. The deleterious effects of U. bullata on individual plant productivity affected sward productivity only when the proportion of infected plants in swards was greater than 50%. Plants not infected with U. bullata compensated for low productivity and death of infected plants by producing large numbers of tillers.

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