Investigation of ramet defoliation on production and reproduction traits of Panicum antidotale Retz

We investigated the effects of ramet defoliation frequency on production and reproduction traits on Panicum antidotle Retz. This specie was grown during an 11-week experiment in experimental garden. The above ground parts of shoots were defoliated at a height of 7 cm following four treatments: frequent (every one week), moderate (every two weeks), little (every four weeks) and unclipped (control). P. antidotale maintained a similar biomass production for all three plant components (above-ground, roots and rhizomes biomass) when clipped and were able to equal-compensate for the biomass loss even after five consecutive clippings. Therefore, this species showed a good tolerance to clipping. The shoot mass, root mass and rhizome mass fraction were similar among clipping treatments. Shoot clipping of different frequency did not significant effect on two traits of asexual reproduction (shoot number and total rhizome number), but it had reduced total rhizome length