Turfgrass Wear Tolerance Mechanisms: II. Effects of Cell Wall Constituents on Turfgrass Wear Tolerance

This investigation was conducted to assess the relationship of cell wall constituents of seven cool-season turfgrass species to wear tolerance. The turfgrass literature contains no data of this nature. The percent total cell wall (TCW), lignocellulose (ADF), cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were determined on a gram dry weight and nig/dm² basis. Species differed significantly in cell wall constituents for both methods of determination. The relative ranking of the species based on the content of various cell wall constituents expressed on a gram dry weight basis was as follows: Cascade chewings fescue (Festuca rubra var. commutata Gaud) > Pennlawn red fescue (F. rubra L.) and Kentucky 31 tall fescue (F. arundinacea Schreb.) > Manhattan perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) > Merion Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) > Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.) > rough bluegrass (P. trivialis L.). However, the species ranked as follows when the cell wall components were expressed on mg/dm² basis: Kentucky 31 > Manhattan and Merion > Pennlawn and Italian ryegrass > Cascade > rought bluegrass. Cell wall constituents reported on a g/dry wt. basis were not correlated individually to wear tolerance. However, the combined effects of TCW, ADF, cellulose, and lignin accounted for 96% of the observed wear tolerance variation among the seven turfgrass species studied. TCW, ADF, cellulose, and hemicellulose contents expressed as mg/dm² were significantly correlated individually to wear tolerance. Their combined effects accounted for 97% of the variation in inter-species wear tolerance. Total cell wall content expressed on a mg/dm² basis accounted for 98% of the variation in wear tolerance among the seven turfgrass species. Cell wall constituents were found to increase significantly with plant maturity, with the exception of hemicellulose. TCW increased significantly during the period from July to September, but declined in all species during October. The TCW, ADF, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents of leaf blades were significantly less than for the leaf sheath for all species.