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The exploitation of the permanent meadows in the Moldavian forest-steppe, encountered in natural conditions completely different from those found in the other regions of the country, is not possible without a thorough knowledge of the ecosystems of the meadows. Mineral and organic fertilization of grasslands is the main way to increase the yield of dry matter and forage quality in Moldavian forest steppe. The Festucetum valesiacae associations from the are in most part of low quality, with inadequate floristic composition, situated on soils with low natural fertility. The main ways to improve these grasslands consist in the correction of the soil fertility with mineral and organic fertilizers. The objective of our work is to analyze the effect of manure in combination with mineral fertilizers on biomass productivity and forage quality of Festuca valesiaca grasslands. From the results obtained during the experimentation period on the Festuca valesiaca meadow, it was found that their productivity and quality is very poor in the absence of improvement elements and can be substantially increased if the necessary measures for improvement and use are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of research carried out in 2022 at Ezăreni Farm (47°05'-47°10 ' North latitude and 27°28'-27°33' Eastern longitude) belonging to the Ia Şi University of Life Sciences, was to analyze the competitiveness of the species Festuca arundinacea Schreb. and Trifolium pratense L., grown alone or in simple mixtures, under different conditions of fertilization with complex mineral fertilizers, under the climatic conditions from Moldavian Forrest Steppe. The studied factors were: species or mixture of grasses and perennial legumes, with 5 graduations, respectively a1 - Festuca arundinacea Schreb. (100%); a2 - Festuca arundinacea Schreb. (75%) and Trifolium pratense L. (25%); a3 - Festuca arundinacea Schreb. (50%) and Trifolium pratense L. (50%); a4 - Festuca arundinacea Schreb. (25%) and Trifolium pratense L. (75%); a5 - Trifolium pratense L. (100% ) and fertilization with mineral fertilizers, with 5 graduations, respectively b1 - unfertilized, b2 - N50P50; b3 - N75P75; b4 - N100; b5 - N150P150. In the second year of vegetation, the RYT index (Relative Yield Total) recorded values >1, except for variants fertilized with N150P150, showing that the Festuca arundinacea Schreb. and Trifolium pratense L. species competes for the same vegetation factors, and the CR index for the Festuca arundinacea Schreb. species was higher than in the case of the Trifolium pratense L. species only at a percentage of participation in the mixture of 75%, under fertilization conditions, in which case the species was more competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of diversity has reached the top of current concerns, because modern agriculture has recently been focused on the development of methods and procedures that allow the administration of a relatively small number of species, with the aim of immediate economic interest. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the applied management on the phytodiversity of a Festuca valesiaca permanent meadow in the Moldovian forest-steppe. The experimental factor was: fertilization with seven graduations: V1-unfertilized (control), V2- N50P50 kg/ha annually, V3- N75P75 kg/ha annually, V4- N100P100 kg/ha annually, V5-10 t/ha sheep manure annually, V6-20 t/ha annually and V7-30 t/ha annually sheep manure applied at two years. The applied fertilizers influenced the floristic composition, producing, quantitative and qualitative changes in the vegetal cover. The dominance and frequency of the species, as well as the variation of the Shannon diversity index, were largely influenced by the amount of mineral N, the amount of manure, but also by the number of years of the fertilization period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sand-based rootzone mixtures used in establishing turfgrass areas have many advantages such as: reduced compaction from traffic and a fast rate of water infiltration. At the same time rapid draining and the lightweight of secondary materials used along with sand, such as peat or composted manure result in an overall lower weight of such rootzones compared to soil. This experiment studied the performance of some species of perennial cool season grasses for turf grown on four different rootzone mixtures in greenhouse conditions. Results demonstrated that a rootzone made by sand and sphagnum peat mixed in a ratio of 2:1 by volume considerations, obtained the highest turf quality in terms of establishment capacity, recovery after cutting, vertical growth, turf density, percent ground cover, thermo-hydric stress tolerance and general ornamental appearance. Compared with the rootzone made from 100% soil, sand + peat mixture offered a better availability of water and nutrients for plants. But using sand as a primary material for growing turf recommends a greater attention for supplying water and nutrients to the plants, imposing an intensive management where irrigation and fertilization should be done with smaller but more frequent doses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]