Impacts of Improved Switchgrass and Big Bluestem Selections on Yield, Morphological Characteristics, and Biomass Quality

Table 4

Fall 2011 and spring 2012 values on dry matter basis for yield, moisture concentration, cell wall components, ash, and higher heating value (HHV) of three selections of switchgrass and three selections of big bluestem in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.

Entry		CIR	CIR2	CIRE	PV	PV2	PVE	value	LSD
Moisture (%)	Fall	46.1	45.8	44.1	43.7	46.8	43.8	0.1843	3.076
	Spring	11.2	14	10.6	10.7	11.5	10.9	0.326	3.411
	% change	−75.7	−69.4	−76	−75.4	−75.4	−75.1
	value	0.0001	<0.0001	0.0002	<0.0001	0.0002	0.0002
	LSD	4.209	2.812	4.925	3.737	4.706	4.2826
Yield (Mg ha^−1)	Fall	10	10.2	8.8	6	5.6	6.6	<0.0001	1.202
	Spring	6.2	6.1	6.6	3.8	2.8	3	<0.0001	1.518
	% change	−38.3	−40.4	−25.2	−37.9	−49.5	−55.1
	value	0.0052	0.0102	0.0493	0.053	0.0018	0.0034
	LSD	1.67	2.253	2.205	2.341	0.8374	1.3616
Cellulose (g kg^−1)	Fall	419	414	389	439	431	438	0.0056	25.05
	Spring	456	438	429	476	449	447	0.001	17.59
	% change	8.8	5.6	10.4	8.3	4.2	2.1
	value	0.0654	0.0004	0.0042	0.029	0.1361	0.0143
	LSD	41.2	4.227	16.29	29.42	28.491	5.676
Hemicellulose (g kg^−1)	Fall	315	321	324	316	303	300	0.0593	17.42
	Spring	324	336	340	291	313	307	0.0005	18.97
	% change	2.9	4.7	4.9	−7.9	3.3	2.3
	value	0.457	0.2528	0.0061	0.056	0.209	0.1208
	LSD	34.56	35.1	7.173	26.219	20.403	10.329
Lignin (g kg^−1)	Fall	77	69	65.5	60.1	62.9	63.1	0.2727	14.94
	Spring	90.3	73.5	64.5	79.3	63.7	67.9	<0.0001	8.647
	% change	17.3	6.5	−1.5	31.9	1.3	7.6
	value	0.2283	0.3488	0.8434	0.0094	0.8919	0.2655
	LSD	28.093	12.857	14.786	9.9	16.149	11.246
Ash (g kg^−1)	Fall	45.2	48.9	47.4	48.2	49.1	46.3	0.9689	11.14
	Spring	50.4	53.2	50.8	48.3	50.3	55.5	0.9601	17.25
	% change	11.5	8.8	7.2	0.2	2.4	19.9
	value	0.5503	0.4563	0.2225	0.9562	0.7607	0.1186
	LSD	24.9	16.041	6.897	9.329	11.929	13.538
HHV (MJ kg^−1)	Fall	18.71	18.96	18.78	18.73	19	18.94	0.5896	0.4463
	Spring	18.96	18.99	18.73	18.85	18.88	18.92	0.761	0.399
	% change	1.3	0.2	−0.3	0.6	−0.6	−0.1
	value	0.4213	0.8845	0.7915	0.4774	0.4568	0.9009
	LSD	0.887	0.5706	0.5966	0.4781	0.46	0.4408

Percent change relative to fall value.
CIR, Cave-in-Rock; CIR2, Cave-in-Rock II; CIRE, Cave-in-Rock Early; PV, Prairie view; PV2, Prairie view II; PVE, Prairie view Early.