TITLE:
Biomass Production of Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) in Response to Variation in Plant Population Density in the North Central USA
AUTHORS:
Arvid Boe, Kenneth A. Albrecht, Paul J. Johnson, Jixiang Wu
KEYWORDS:
Biofuel, Shoot Density, Shoots Plant-1, Stand Morphology, Cup Plant Moth, Eucosma giganteana Riley, Biotic Stress, Abiotic Stress
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.10 No.6,
June
13,
2019
ABSTRACT: The North American
genus Silphium is receiving global
attention for its potential in the development of new food, forage, and
industrial crops, including cellulosic biomass for biofuel. Little is known
about the effect of plant population density on biomass production in large,
coarse perennial forbs. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of variation
in plant density on biomass production and stand morphology of cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.). Plant
population densities of 17,000, 34,000, and 68,000 plants ha-1 were
evaluated for biomass production in a single-harvest per annum system for three
years at Brookings, SD and Arlington, WI. Biomass increased linearly by 43%
between the low and high density at Brookings; whereas, at Arlington, response
to variation in plant density was year dependent. Shoots plant-1 was
inversely related to plant density with linear regression explaining >95% of
the variation. Our results strongly suggested that further studies of effects
of plant population density on biomass production in cup plant should include
evaluation of, in addition to, densities higher than 68,000 plants ha-1.