Winterhardiness, Forage Production, and Persistence of Introduced and Native Grasses and Legumes in Southcentral Alaska

Abstract

This study consisted of four separate field experiments, each of six years duration, conducted at the University of Alaska’s Matanuska Research Farm (61.6oN) near Palmer in southcentral Alaska. Objectives were to compare winterhardiness, forage productivity, and general persistence of introduced grass and legume species, strains, and cultivars from various world sources with Alaska-developed cultivars and native Alaskan species. Twenty-one species of grasses compared (Tables 1 through 4) included eight native to Alaska, four Alaska cultivars, and numerous introduced cultivars and regional strains (one to seven per species) from North America and northern Europe. Legumes included two species of biennial sweetclover and nine species of perennials, six introduced and three native. Each experiment was harvested once near the end of the seeding year and twice annually for five years thereafter.