AUTHOR=Tejera Mauricio D. , Heaton Emily A. 

TITLE=Description and Codification of Miscanthus × giganteus Growth Stages for Phenological Assessment

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01726

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.01726

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Triploid <italic>Miscanthus</italic> × <italic>giganteus</italic> (Greef et Deu. ex Hodkinson et Renvoize) is a sterile, perennial grass used for biomass production in temperate environments. While <italic>M</italic>. × <italic>giganteus</italic> has been intensively researched, a scale standardizing description of <italic>M</italic>. × <italic>giganteus</italic> morphological stages has not been developed. Here we provide such a scale by adapting the widely-used Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt, CHemische Industrie (BBCH) scale and its corresponding numerical code to describe stages of morphological development in <italic>M</italic>. × <italic>giganteus</italic> using observations of the “Freedom” and “Illinois” clone in Iowa, USA. Descriptive keys with images are also presented. Because <italic>M</italic>. × <italic>giganteus</italic> plants overlap in the field, the scale was first applied to individual stems and then scaled up to assess plants or communities. Of the 10 principal growth stages in the BBCH system, eight were observed in <italic>M</italic>. × <italic>giganteus</italic>. Each principal stage was subdivided into secondary stages to enable a detailed description of developmental progression. While <italic>M</italic>. × <italic>giganteus</italic> does not have seed development stages, descriptions of those stages are provided to extend the scale to other <italic>Miscanthus</italic> genotypes. We present methods to use morphological development data to assess phenology by calculating the onset, duration, and abundance of each developmental stage. This scale has potential to harmonize previously described study-specific scales and standardize results across studies. Use of the precise staging presented here should more tightly constrain estimates of developmental parameters in crop models and increase the efficacy of timing-sensitive crop management practices like pest control and harvest.</p>