Is Bere barley specifically adapted to fertilisation with seaweed as a nutrient source?
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Is Bere barley specifically adapted to fertilisation with seaweed as a nutrient source? L. K. Brown . M. Blanz . J. Wishart . B. Dieterich . S. B. Schmidt . J. Russell . P. Martin . T. S. George
Received: 19 December 2019 / Accepted: 10 August 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Traditional crofting in Scotland used Bere barley fertilised with seaweed. Bere has known abilities to cope with the marginal, high pH soils without inorganic fertiliser addition. The objective of this study was to assess whether Bere productivity is specifically enhanced when fertilised with seaweed. We grew Bere genotypes in field and glasshouse studies and measured growth, yield, and plant nutrition compared with NPK fertilised plants. It is clear that seaweed was an effective fertiliser for Bere, increasing yield from 2.0 to 4.6 t ha-1 with the addition of 50 t ha-1 seaweed in the year of application. This was dependent on soil type. In pot trials the response was different in alkaline compared to acidic soil, with Bere increasing biomass (from 3.1 to 8.1 g) by [ 2.5-fold in NPK treatments only in the
former. While seaweed addition improved the availability of micronutrients (Mn from 8 to 36 lg g-1; Cu from 12 to 37 lg g-1; Zn from 40 to 140 lg g-1) for both Bere and commercial cultivars, this only improved biomass production (from 0.2 to 1.9 g) in alkaline soils for the commercial cultivar. It is clear that seaweed is a useful fertiliser for Bere, and under certain conditions the adaptations of some Beres to cope with Mn-deficiency allowed them to take full advantage of the addition of NPK fertiliser. This highlights the need for understanding interactions between alternative fertilisers and genetic adaptation in crops to cope with stresses of marginal environments and help achieve agricultural sustainability. Keywords Alkaline soils Bere barley GxExM Micronutrients Natural selection Seaweed
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-020-10090-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. L. K. Brown B. Dieterich S. B. Schmidt J. Russell T. S. George (&) The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK e-mail: [email protected]
M. Blanz Trace Element Speciation Laboratory (TESLA), Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building, Meston Walk, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, Scotland, UK
M. Blanz Archaeology Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Orkney College UHI, East Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1LX, Scotland, UK
J. Wishart P. Martin The Agronomy Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Orkney College UHI, East Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1LX, Scotland, UK
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Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst
Introduction Bere barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an ancient landrace form of barley that has been grown in Scotland for many hundreds, possibly thousands, of years. It remains unclear where and when it was first grown in Scotlan
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