Effects of Row-Spacing on Canopy Structure and Yield in Different Plant Type Rice Cultivars

Two japonica rice varieties, Longjing 20 （more tillers and curved panicle type, MCP） and Longjing 21 （few tillers and half erect panicle type, FEP）, were used to study the effects of row-spacing on canopy structure, morphological characteristics and yield. The results showed that the percentage of productive tiller reduced first, and increased afterwards as row-spacing increasing. The relationship between row spacing and the percentage of productive tiller fitted a quadratic regression. The effects of row spacing on leaf area index （LAI） at later tillering stage and the highest stem number per square meter also followed a quadratic regression relationship with increasing first and then reducing. The effects of row-spacing on primary branch were larger than the secondary branch in Longjing 20. However, the trend in Longjing 21 was opposite. The relationship between row spacing and seed setting rate of the secondary branch or panicle was negatively correlated. An extreme significant negative correlation was obtained between seed setting rate of secondary branch in Longjing 20. There was no significant positive correlation between row-spacing and yield in Longjing 20 （R2=0.68）. However, the negative correlation between row-spacing and yield of Longjing 21 was extremely significant （R2=–0.96＊＊）. The canopy structure of MCP was more sensitive to row-spacing. The positive correlation between row spacing and the length of the flag leaf （R2=0.89＊＊）, the width of the flag leaf （R2=0.85＊）, the length of the last internode （R2=0.85＊）, the length of the last 2nd internode （R2=0.96＊＊） or the length of the panicle （R2=0.91＊＊） was significant or extremely significant in Longjing 20, but not in Longjing 21. The wider row-spacing promoted the accumulation of the dry matter of panicle, stem and leaf and the yield formation in MCP. The best row-spacing in Longjing 20 was 30 cm. For Longjing 21, the narrower row-spacing was better. The best row-spacing of it was 21 cm. These results suggested that improved the population environment of MCP or the utilization of the free space in the field of FEP could be reached either by wider row-spacing or narrow row-spacing.

Diurnal and seasonal variations of soil respiration rate under different row-spacing in a Panicum virgatum L. field on semi-arid Loess Plateau of China

Soil respiration（SR） in crop field is affected by environmental factors, agronomic practices and crop types. To clarify how planting density affects the SR dynamics in switchgrass（Panicum virgatum L.） field on the semi-arid Loess Plateau, this research investigated diurnal and seasonal changes of soil respiration rate（RS） under three different row-spacing treatments（20, 40 and 60 cm） in the fourth growing year of switchgrass. Results showed that RS presented a pronounced seasonality under all row-spacing treatments. The highest daily average RS values appeared in August, while the lowest（P〉 0.05） among the row-spacing treatments, and similar results were found for soil temperature in 0–15 cm soil depth. Soil respiration temperature sensitivity（Q_（10）） values were 1.0–3.7 during the growing months, which were strongly correlated with air temperature in May and June and the soil temperature at 15 cm depth in August. Higher aboveground biomass production and lower RS in most growth months indicated that 20 cm row-spacing treatment was beneficial for increasing the carbon fixation in switchgrass field. Results also implied that it is necessary to take into account the influence of phenology and root growth of switchgrass on soil respiration for accurately evaluating the carbon cycle in the region.