TURFGRASS ADAPTATION IN CENTRAL CHILE

摘要

Chile has a wide variety of climates; however the majority of its population lives in the center of the country,where the climate is Mediterranean.Central Chile is considered a transition zone for turfgrass adaptation.Turfgrass species and variety performance information is lacking under Chilean climatic conditions.In addition Chilean policies are looking for increasing landscape areas to enhance citizen quality of life.In this study,the adaptability of C3 and C4 grass species was evaluated for two years,using scores of quality,genetic color,leaf texture,turfgrass density,seedling vigor,percentage of living ground cover,frost tolerance and chlorophyll a and b content through seasons.Differences among species were observed.C.dactylon and C.dactylon x C.transvaalenis performed the best among of all the species during the summer but during winter,became dormant.During the summer,Festuca arundinacea performed the best among the cold season turfgrasses.Poa pratensis,Festuca rubra rubra and Poa trivialis did not showed high quality values.Lolium perenne showed good quality scores on autumn and winter but in summer decreased its scores.