Ways of increasing the magnesium content in sward from a long-term fertilizer experiment

Abstract

The paper discusses fluctuations, and their underlying causes, in the magnesium content of meadow sward from a fertilizer experiment set up on a mountain meadow in 1968. The fertilization experiment comprised 8 different treatments, with the following modifications: liming, magnesium and microelement fertilization and a change in the sward use made during the experiment so as to regenerate the sward and to improve the yielding potential. In the initial period, magnesium concentrations in the sward were assessed using the ASS technique after dry mineralization of samples and dissolution of the residue in diluted nitric acid. Later, the ICP technique was applied, including an internal reference sample for the methods. The cultivation measures caused variations in magnesium concentrations in the sward, depending on a number of factors, among which direct fertilization was not the most significant one. For example, the ambient temperature during the plant growing season strongly influenced the magnesium content, irrespectively of a cut. There was no effect of rainfall of the magnesium content, although atmospheric precipitation was able to raise considerably the charge of this element. In the second cut and under neutral soil pH, higher concentrations of magnesium were noted in the sward. This could have resulted from either the lower second swath yielding or the optimum conditions for the uptake of magnesium by the sward that occurred during its growth. The investigation results failed to provide an unambiguous answer to the question whether magnesium fertilization affected the concentrations of this element. Nonetheless, in order to maintain the production of valuable fodder it is essential to return systematically the elements taken up with plant yield to the soil. In intensively managed meadows, amounts of magnesium removed from the soil with the harvested biomass can be as high as several kilograms per hectare.