{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/34206"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/34206","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Forage Systems for the Southeastern United States: Crabgrass and Crabgrass-Lespedeza Mixtures","abstract":"Crabgrass is a warm-season annual species that has the potential to provide high-quality summer forage for ruminants in the transition zone between subtropical and temperate regions of the United States. Growing annual lespedeza in association with crabgrass may be beneficial due to nitrogen transfer from the legume to the grass. The objectives of the research reported in this thesis were to (1) determine the effects of pH on establishment and growth of crabgrass; and (2) evaluate the effects of lespedeza seeding rate and N fertilization treatment on the yield, botanical composition, and nutritive value of crabgrass-lespedeza mixtures. A greenhouse study was conducted using three soil pH levels of 4.8, 5.5, and 6.3. Crabgrass germination and root and shoot yields were not affected by soil pH values. A field study was conducted to evaluate the influence of six lespedeza seeding rates (0-28 kg ha-1) and two N fertilization treatments (140 kg total N ha-1 or zero N) on crabgrass-annual lespedeza mixtures. In most cases, increasing lespedeza seeding rate increased lespedeza in the sward. However, lespedeza rate had limited effect on yield and nutritive value of the mixture. Nitrogen fertilization increased crabgrass in the sward and total yield by as much as 46%. Responses of nutritive value parameters to N fertilization were variable and appeared linked to weather factors. In vitro true digestibilities ranged from 750 to 875 g kg-1, and were largely unaffected by N fertilization and seeding rate The results of these studies indicate that crabgrass could provide moderate amounts of highly digestible forage while growing on acidic soils commonly found in the southeastern United States. Annual lespedeza may be grown in association with crabgrass, but limited improvement in yield and nutritive value were found for this practice.","abstract_html":"Crabgrass is a warm-season annual species that has the potential to provide high-quality summer forage for ruminants in the transition zone between subtropical and temperate regions of the United States. Growing annual lespedeza in association with crabgrass may be beneficial due to nitrogen transfer from the legume to the grass. The objectives of the research reported in this thesis were to (1) determine the effects of pH on establishment and growth of crabgrass; and (2) evaluate the effects of lespedeza seeding rate and N fertilization treatment on the yield, botanical composition, and nutritive value of crabgrass-lespedeza mixtures. A greenhouse study was conducted using three soil pH levels of 4.8, 5.5, and 6.3. Crabgrass germination and root and shoot yields were not affected by soil pH values. A field study was conducted to evaluate the influence of six lespedeza seeding rates (0-28 kg ha-1) and two N fertilization treatments (140 kg total N ha-1 or zero N) on crabgrass-annual lespedeza mixtures. In most cases, increasing lespedeza seeding rate increased lespedeza in the sward. However, lespedeza rate had limited effect on yield and nutritive value of the mixture. Nitrogen fertilization increased crabgrass in the sward and total yield by as much as 46%. Responses of nutritive value parameters to N fertilization were variable and appeared linked to weather factors. In vitro true digestibilities ranged from 750 to 875 g kg-1, and were largely unaffected by N fertilization and seeding rate The results of these studies indicate that crabgrass could provide moderate amounts of highly digestible forage while growing on acidic soils commonly found in the southeastern United States. Annual lespedeza may be grown in association with crabgrass, but limited improvement in yield and nutritive value were found for this practice.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Aleshire, Emily Browning"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences","degree_department":"Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Teutsch, Christopher D."],"committee_members":["Alley, Marcus M.","Abaye, Azenegashe Ozzie","Thomason, Wade E."],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-07-13","date_published":"2005-07-13","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:18Z","subjects":["botanical composition","Digitaria","Kummerowia striata","crabgrass","seeding rate","soil pH","grass-legume mixtures","nitrogen fertilization","Kummerowia stipulacea","annual lespedeza"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07272005-141340"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-07272005-141340","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34206","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Teutsch, Christopher D."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Alley, Marcus M.","Abaye, Azenegashe Ozzie","Thomason, Wade E."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Aleshire, Emily Browning"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:42:04Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:42:04Z","2011-09-05"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2005-07-13"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["botanical composition","Digitaria","Kummerowia striata","crabgrass","seeding rate","soil pH","grass-legume mixtures","nitrogen fertilization","Kummerowia stipulacea","annual lespedeza"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07272005-141340"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34206"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Crabgrass is a warm-season annual species that has the potential to provide high-quality summer forage for ruminants in the transition zone between subtropical and temperate regions of the United States. Growing annual lespedeza in association with crabgrass may be beneficial due to nitrogen transfer from the legume to the grass. The objectives of the research reported in this thesis were to (1) determine the effects of pH on establishment and growth of crabgrass; and (2) evaluate the effects of lespedeza seeding rate and N fertilization treatment on the yield, botanical composition, and nutritive value of crabgrass-lespedeza mixtures. A greenhouse study was conducted using three soil pH levels of 4.8, 5.5, and 6.3. Crabgrass germination and root and shoot yields were not affected by soil pH values. A field study was conducted to evaluate the influence of six lespedeza seeding rates (0-28 kg ha-1) and two N fertilization treatments (140 kg total N ha-1 or zero N) on crabgrass-annual lespedeza mixtures. In most cases, increasing lespedeza seeding rate increased lespedeza in the sward. However, lespedeza rate had limited effect on yield and nutritive value of the mixture. Nitrogen fertilization increased crabgrass in the sward and total yield by as much as 46%. Responses of nutritive value parameters to N fertilization were variable and appeared linked to weather factors. In vitro true digestibilities ranged from 750 to 875 g kg-1, and were largely unaffected by N fertilization and seeding rate The results of these studies indicate that crabgrass could provide moderate amounts of highly digestible forage while growing on acidic soils commonly found in the southeastern United States. Annual lespedeza may be grown in association with crabgrass, but limited improvement in yield and nutritive value were found for this practice."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Forage Systems for the Southeastern United States: Crabgrass and Crabgrass-Lespedeza Mixtures"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Teutsch, Christopher D."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Alley, Marcus M.","Abaye, Azenegashe Ozzie","Thomason, Wade E."],"dc:contributor.department":["Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Aleshire, Emily Browning"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:42:04Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:42:04Z","2011-09-05"],"dc:date.issued":["2005-07-13"],"dc:description.abstract":["Crabgrass is a warm-season annual species that has the potential to provide high-quality summer forage for ruminants in the transition zone between subtropical and temperate regions of the United States. Growing annual lespedeza in association with crabgrass may be beneficial due to nitrogen transfer from the legume to the grass. The objectives of the research reported in this thesis were to (1) determine the effects of pH on establishment and growth of crabgrass; and (2) evaluate the effects of lespedeza seeding rate and N fertilization treatment on the yield, botanical composition, and nutritive value of crabgrass-lespedeza mixtures. A greenhouse study was conducted using three soil pH levels of 4.8, 5.5, and 6.3. Crabgrass germination and root and shoot yields were not affected by soil pH values. A field study was conducted to evaluate the influence of six lespedeza seeding rates (0-28 kg ha-1) and two N fertilization treatments (140 kg total N ha-1 or zero N) on crabgrass-annual lespedeza mixtures. In most cases, increasing lespedeza seeding rate increased lespedeza in the sward. However, lespedeza rate had limited effect on yield and nutritive value of the mixture. Nitrogen fertilization increased crabgrass in the sward and total yield by as much as 46%. Responses of nutritive value parameters to N fertilization were variable and appeared linked to weather factors. In vitro true digestibilities ranged from 750 to 875 g kg-1, and were largely unaffected by N fertilization and seeding rate The results of these studies indicate that crabgrass could provide moderate amounts of highly digestible forage while growing on acidic soils commonly found in the southeastern United States. Annual lespedeza may be grown in association with crabgrass, but limited improvement in yield and nutritive value were found for this practice."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-07272005-141340"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34206"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["botanical composition","Digitaria","Kummerowia striata","crabgrass","seeding rate","soil pH","grass-legume mixtures","nitrogen fertilization","Kummerowia stipulacea","annual lespedeza"],"dc:title":["Forage Systems for the Southeastern United States: Crabgrass and Crabgrass-Lespedeza Mixtures"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:18Z"}