Ad. Peoples et al., PRODUCTION AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF WESTERN RAGWEED SEED IN RESPONSE TO FERTILIZATION, Journal of range management, 47(6), 1994, pp. 467-469
The importance of western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya) DC.) in the
diet of bobwhites (Colinus virginianus Merr.) and their high dietary r
equirement for essential amino acids prompted us to explore the use of
disking and fertilization (nitrogen and phosphorus) to improve its nu
tritional quality on deep, unfertile, sandy-soil rangelands in western
Oklahoma. Fertilization (55 kg N ha-1, 56 kg P ha-1 as diammonium pho
sphate) of disk strips did not readily increase seed production of wes
tern ragweed. Fertilizer had no detectable effect on nutritional quali
ty of seeds, which contained an average of 13% crude protein and 21% f
at. Conflicting results reported on the effect of fertilizer on the qu
ality of plant proteins within the literature could be attributable to
differences of climate and soils, growth habits of different plant sp
ecies, type and rates of fertilizers, and stages of maturity when plan
ts are harvested for analysis.