Research
On the Behavior of Certain Artificial Grasslands on the Slopes of the Central Balkan Mountain in Bulgaria.
The research includes several studies on the behavior of some meadow grasses of local origin, which are the result of our selection. They are grown either as a monoculture or in a mixture on the slopes of the Central Balkan Mountain in Bulgaria with different exposure to the main directions of the world and a variety of soil gleying. The duration of the study is different. During the study period in the 10th-13th experimental years, a relative equality of productivity by habitat was established, with solid and weak soil gleying, respectively, on the low or high part of the slope, especially with eastern and southeastern exposure of the mountain slope. The principle of rhythmicity in Nature (increase or decrease in productivity in even or odd years), fixed in the ancient Bulgarian calendar, finds expression in the manifestations of cultivated grasslands. Red fescue (Festuca rubra L. var. genuina Gr. et Good) is the structure-determining component of the grasslands. Some understandings are shared about principles in the interrelations between meadow grasses in the community. Specific questions of allelopathy, as a natural phenomenon, are considered. The response of some meadow grasses grown in areas weeded with eagle fern was studied.
Behaviour of Some Grasslands on the Slopes of the Balkan Mountain
The study includes results of a 20-year (1994-2013) period of use of a number of artificial grasses. They have been established with seeds of local origin and are located in the region of the Central Balkan Mountain. Habitats have different exposure of the slopes to the main cardinal points of the world and a variety of soil gleying. When the grasslands are located on different habitats, the presence of a certain rhythm in the formation of the fodder mass is established. The yields were higher in the odd years (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001) in comparison with the even ones (1996, 1998, 2000). The sequence changed in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010. The yields were again higher in the odd years (2011, 2013) than 2012. The behaviour of the grasslands, located on slightly gleyed soils with eastern and southeastern exposure, follow the sequence mentioned above more clearly. Those in other habitats were accompanied by too much variety in their behaviour over the years and variants. New elements are added to the various views and hypotheses on the origin of species, about their evolution and the causes of the behaviour of the grasslands.
Manifestation of Some Meadow Grasses of Local Origin, under Conditions of the Central Balkan Mountain in Bulgaria
In the period of 2011-2015, a field experiment was conducted in the foothill region of the Central Balkan Mountain. The behaviour of some meadow grasses of local origin was studied, which had not been used before, under artificial sowing conditions. It has been found that there is an opportunity to cultivate French rye grass and white bentgrass under conditions of highly gleyed pseuodopodzolic soils. Under the experimental conditions, the most productive species were red and tall fescue. The average green matter yield of red fescue was 21.70 t.xa-1, and dry matter – 7.032 t.xa-1. In comparison, tall fescue surpassed it insignificantly according to average green matter yield (5.07%), but it was also insignificantly inferior according to dry matter (5,73%). Perennial ryegrass and big quaking grass were the most low-yielding grasses in the current study. Their average green mass, for the period of study, was 16.30 t.xa-1 and 16.10 t.xa-1, and dry matter was 4.159 t.xa-1and 4.878 t.xa-1.
