Abstract

Timothy ( Phleum pratense L.) is the predominant forage grass species in the northern parts of the Nordic region. Because of the long andharsh winters and a short growing season, most of it with continuous light, the need for locally adapted timothy seed has been recognizedfor more than a century. However, the seed production of timothy in these marginal environments is unpredictable with acceptable seedyield and quality on average only every third year. Thus, a multiplication scheme for the northern cultivars was established with only pre-basic seed produced in the north, and basic and certified seed produced further south to secure enough seed of good quality. In recentdecades this scheme has been more or less abandoned with continous generations produced in the south. Farmers are complaining andare questioning whether the cultivars has changed and lost winter hardiness. We studied freezing and ice-encasement tolerance of generations of the the northern timothy cultivars ‘Engmo’ (old landrace) and ‘Noreng’(synthetic) multiplied for one, two or three generations in Central, Southern and Northern Norway. The trials introduce very largedifferences in mean temperature, growing degree days and photoperiod between place of parental origin and sites of multiplication so theeffects on fitness observed could arise from both selection and and induced epigenetic changes. Large changes (loss) in freezing and ice-encasement tolerance were observed, especially at the southern location in the first generation.The cultivars behaved differently and there were significant interactions. The extreme phenotypic changes observed might be explained bygenetic selection or epigenetic memory of the environmental conditions experienced during seed production, or a combination of the two.We are currently analysing GBS data of all generations and this will be used to test whether genetic shifts has occured during themultiplication in the different environments.

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Abstract

This study quantifies golf course pesticide risk in five regions across the US (Florida, East Texas, Northwest, Midwest, and Northeast) and three countries in Europe (UK, Denmark, and Norway) with the objective of determining how pesticide risk on golf courses varied as a function of climate, regulatory environment, and facility-level economic factors. The hazard quotient model was used to estimate acute pesticide risk to mammals specifically. Data from 68 golf courses are included in the study, with a minimum of at least five golf courses in each region. Though the dataset is small, it is representative of the population at confidence level of 75 % with a 15 % margin of error. Pesticide risk appeared to be similar across US regions with varied climates, and significantly lower in the UK, and lowest in Norway and Denmark. In the Southern US (East Texas and Florida), greens contribute most to total pesticide risk while in nearly all other regions fairways make the greatest contribution to overall pesticide risk. The relationship between facility-level economic factors such as maintenance budget was limited in most regions of the study, except in the Northern US (Midwest, Northwest, and Northeast) where maintenance and pesticide budget correlated to pesticide risk and use intensity. However, there was a strong relationship between regulatory environment and pesticide risk across all regions. Pesticide risk was significantly lower in Norway, Denmark, and the UK, where twenty or fewer active ingredients were available to golf course superintendents, than it was in US where depending on the state between 200 and 250 pesticide active ingredients were registered for use on golf courses.