Uso Eficiente De La Radiacion En Maiz

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Agronomy -- Faculty Publications Agronomy and Horticulture Department

1-1-2005

Maize Radiation Use Efficiency under Optimal Growth Conditions
John L. Lindquist
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, jlindquist1@unl.edu

Timothy J. Arkebauer
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, tarkebauer1@unl.edu

Daniel T.Walters
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, dwalters1@unl.edu

Kenneth G. Cassman
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, kcassman1@unl.edu

Achim Dobermann
University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Lindquist, John L.; Arkebauer, Timothy J.; Walters, Daniel T.; Cassman, Kenneth G.; and Dobermann, Achim, "Maize Radiation Use Efficiency under Optimal Growth Conditions" (2005). Agronomy -- FacultyPublications. Paper 92. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agronomyfacpub/92

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Maize Radiation Use Efficiency under Optimal Growth Conditions
John L. Lindquist,* Timothy J. Arkebauer, Daniel T. Walters, Kenneth G. Cassman, and Achim Dobermann ABSTRACT
Accurate measurement of crop growth and radiation use efficiency (RUE) under optimal growth conditions is required to predict plant dry matter accumulation and grain yield near the genetic growthpotential. Research was conducted to quantify the biomass and leaf area index (LAI) accumulation, extinction coefficient, and RUE of maize (Zea mays L.) under conditions of optimal growth. Maize was grown in two environments over five growing seasons (1998–2002). Total aboveground biomass at maturity ranged from 2257 g m 2 in 1998 to 2916 g m 2 in 2001; values that are considerably greater thanthe biomass achieved in most previous studies on RUE in maize. Peak LAI ranged from 4.8 to 7.8. Maize extinction coefficients during vegetative growth (k ) were within the range of recently published values (0.49 0.03), with no clear pattern of differences in k among years. Seasonal changes in interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) were similar across all but one year. Estimatesof RUE were obtained using the short-interval crop growth rate method and the cumulative biomass and absorbed PAR (APAR) method. Values of RUE obtained using the two methods were 3.74 ( 0.20) g MJ 1 APAR and 3.84 ( 0.08) g MJ 1 APAR, respectively, and did not vary among years. This compares to a published mean RUE for maize of 3.3 g MJ 1 of intercepted PAR (Mitchell et al., 1998). Moreover, RUE didnot decline during grain filling. Differences in biomass accumulation among years were attributed in part to differences in observed radiation interception, which varied primarily due to differences in LAI. Maize simulation models that rely on RUE for biomass accumulation should use an RUE of 3.8 g MJ 1 APAR for predicting optimum yields without growth limitations.

lant dry matter accumulationdepends on the total C fixed by photosynthesis and the fraction of that C converted to dry matter (Norman and Arkebauer, 1991). In the absence of biotic and abiotic stresses, plant dry matter accumulation depends on the quantity of radiation absorbed by the canopy (e.g., Kiniry et al., 1989; Monteith, 1977; Sinclair and Muchow, 1999). The relationship between plant dry matter and radiationintercepted has been termed the radiation use efficiency (RUE, g MJ 1; Monteith, 1977). A number of crop growth simulation models have been developed using the RUE concept to forecast crop growth and yield in different environments (Brisson et al., 2003; Jones and Kiniry, 1986; Muchow et al., 1990). These models generally calculate daily biomass production as the product of the quantity of radiation...