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Abstract
Two adjacent studies of sheep‐grazed mixed‐species pasture, on a Pukaki/Tekapo high country soil, have been on‐going since 1982. One compared 30 combinations of 5 increasing growth regimes (0–500 kg ha‐1 yr‐1 superphosphate +irrigation) × 3 stocking rates × 2 stocking methods; the other compared 27 combinations of P and S fertiliser (0–100 kg ha‐1 yr‐1). Summer shoot concentrations of P, S, N, and other macro‐ and micro‐nutrients in Lupinus polyphyllus, Trifolium ambiguum, T. hybridum, T. repens, T. pratense, Hieracium pilosella, Festuca rubra, and Dactylis glomerata are reported for the PxS study. Dactylis glomerata was notable for its large change in shoot P and S concentration with changes in P and S soil levels, whereas Lupinus polyphyllus and Festuca rubra showed low variation in S shoot concentration, and Hieracium pilosella low variation in shoot P concentration, under varying fertilisers rates and combinations. Species tended to have their highest shoot S concentration where they made their major contribution in mixed swards. Herbage Se, I, and Na levels were low to deficient for sheep nutrition.
