Research on the botanical composition and effects of different fertilizer applications on the yield and botanical composition of Yeniyapan range in Araplar village, Kahramanmaraş

ABSTRACTPhD THESISRESEARCH ON THE BOTANICAL COMPOSITION ANDEFFECTS OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZER APPLICATIONS ON THE YIELDAND BOTANICAL COMPOSITION OFYEN YAPAN RANGE IN ARAPLAR VILLAGE, KAHRAMANMARAŞÖmer Süha USLUDEPARTMENT OF FIELD CROPSINSTITUTE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCESUNIVERSITY OF ÇUKUROVASupervisor : Prof. Dr. Rüştü HAT POĞLUYear : 2005, Sayfa : 162Jury : Prof. Dr. Rüştü HAT POĞLUProf. Dr. Tuncay TÜKELAssoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa KIZILŞ MŞEKProf. Dr. Adem Emin ANLARSALAssist. Prof. Dr. Ersin CANThis study was conducted to compare different aspects of range land vegetation for hay yieldand botanical composition and to determine the effects of different fertilizer applications on yield andbotanical composition on West aspect of the range in Araplar Village, Türkoğlu-K.Maraş in 2001-2003. In this study five doses of nitrogen (0, 5, 7.5, 10 and 15 kg/da) combined with five doses ofphosphorus (0, 4, 6, 8 and 10 kg/da) were applied.Results of the vegetation study in 2001 showed that mean plant basal cover percentage of therange vegetation was 81.6%. Percentages of grasses, legumes and other family plants in the total plantweight were 46.4, 17.4 and 36.2, respectively. Percentages of grasses in West aspect and percentageof legumes in North aspect were higher than those in the other aspects of range while other familyplants were dominant in the South aspect. A total of 68 species from 54 genuses belonging to 21families were determined in the vegetation. The hay yield changed from 128.4 kg/da to 185.4 kg/dadepending on the aspects. Grazing capacity of the range was calculated as 170 BBHB.According to average of two years of the fertilizer applications in 2002-2003, increasingnitrogen doses increased the hay yield, contribution of grasses to the hay yield, crude protein yield andgrazing capacity. Also the increasing nitrogen doses decreased the legume rate and the application ofnitrogen fertilizers decreased the crude protein ratio but different between doses were not statisticallysignificant. 4 kg/da phosphorus dose increased the legume rate, crude protein yield and grazingcapacity while the same phosphorus dose decreased the rate of plants from the other families.Furthermore, the effects of phosphorus doses were not significant on the grasses rate and crude proteinratio. This study showed that, the optimal doses of nitrogen and phosphorus for in conclusion qualityhay yield were 15 kg/da nitrogen and 4 kg/da phosphorus combination.Key Words: Range, fertilization, botanical composition, hay yield, hay quality.1