Timing and temperature of physiological decline for creeping bentgrass

Knowledge of the level of soil temperatures that is detrimental for shoot and root growth for cool-season grasses may help develop heat-tolerant plants and effective management practices to improve summer performance. The objectives of this study were to determine the level and duration of high temperatures in the root zone that will induce decline for various growth and physiological parameters and to compare the responses of different physiological parameters and cultivars to high root-zone temperatures. Nine creeping bentgrass [Agrostis stolonifera L. var. palustris (Huds.) Farw.] cultivars were subjected to eight root-zone temperatures (20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 31, 35 °C) in water baths while exposed to a constant air temperature of 20 °C for 54 days. Root number, dry weight, and depth, active root biomass, turf quality, leaf cytokinin content, and canopy net photosynthetic rate (P_n), decreased in all nine cultivars as root-zone temperature increased from 20 to 35 °C, but the time and temperature at which the decline occurred varied for each parameter measured. P_n, cytokinin content, root number, and turf quality declined at 23, 27, 27, and 35 °C, respectively, after 28 days of exposure. Active root biomass, root number, root dry weight, turf quality, and rooting depth declined at 23, 25, 25, 25, and 35 °C, respectively, at 54 days. At a 31 °C root-zone temperature the decline in root number, cytokinin content, and turf quality occurred at 19, 37, and 47 days, respectively. The results suggest that root-zone temperatures of 23 °C or above this level were detrimental to root activities, P_n, and overall turf growth. Root and P_n decline at lower temperatures and earlier in the study than turf quality suggest that the disturbance of physiological activities of roots and leaves could lead to turfgrass quality decline at high root-zone temperatures.