Effects of elevated partial pressure of carbon dioxide and season of the year on forage quality and cyanide concentration of Trifolium repens L. from a FACE experiment

Differently managed (cutting frequency and N fertilization) Trifolium repens monocultures were grown at 60 Pa and 35 Pa of pCO(2) (partial pressure of CO2) in a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) array. The concentrations of cyanide, digestible organic matter, crude protein and net energy for lactation were measured at different harvests throughout the growing season. The average cyanide concentrations differed significantly in the years and the seasons within the year; however, the concentrations were not affected by CO2. Digestible organic matter, crude protein and net energy for lactation differed significantly with the seasons of the year and cutting frequencies. While digestible organic matter and net energy for lactation were not affected by elevated pCO(2), the concentration of crude protein decreased from 288 g kg(-1) at ambient to 251 g kg(-1) at elevated pCO(2). Since the crude protein concentration in herbage from Trifolium monocultures was very high even at elevated CO2, it is suggested that this decrease in crude protein concentration does not negatively affect forage quality. We conclude that, in Trifolium herbage, the seasons of the year and management practices are more decisive for forage quality than changes in pCO(2). We shall discuss how forage quality and cyanide intake by ruminants may, however, be affected by CO2-induced shifts in the proportion of species in mixed plant communities.