<i>Urochloa</i> Grasses Swap Nitrogen Source When Grown in Association with Legumes in Tropical Pastures

• Main Authors: Daniel M. Villegas, Jaime Velasquez, Jacobo Arango, Karen Obregon, Idupulapati M. Rao, Gelber Rosas, Astrid Oberson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Diversity
• Subjects: biological nitrogen fixation; nitrogen concentration; nitrogen transfer; ¹⁵N natural abundance
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/11/419

The degradation of tropical pastures sown with introduced grasses (e.g., <i>Urochloa</i> spp.) has dramatic environmental and economic consequences in Latin America. Nitrogen (N) limitation to plant growth contributes to pasture degradation. The introduction of legumes in association with grasses has been proposed as a strategy to improve N supply via symbiotic N₂ fixation, but the fixed N input and N benefits for associated grasses have hardly been determined in farmers’ pastures. We have carried out on-farm research in ten paired plots of grass-alone (GA) vs. grass-legume (GL) pastures. Measurements included soil properties, pasture productivity, and sources of plant N uptake using ¹⁵N isotope natural abundance methods. The integration of legumes increased pasture biomass production by about 74%, while N uptake was improved by two-fold. The legumes derived about 80% of their N via symbiotic N₂ fixation. The isotopic signature of N of grasses in GA vs. GL pastures suggested that sources of grass N are affected by sward composition. Low values of δ¹⁵N found in some grasses in GA pastures indicate that they depend, to some extent, on N from non-symbiotic N₂ fixation, while δ¹⁵N signatures of grasses in GL pastures pointed to N transfer to grass from the associated legume. The role of different soil–plant processes such as biological nitrification inhibition (BNI), non-symbiotic N₂ fixation by GA pastures and legume–N transfer to grasses in GL pastures need to be further studied to provide a more comprehensive understanding of N sources supporting the growth of grasses in tropical pastures.