Ecological adaptability evaluation of turfgrasses based on multivariate statistical analysis

Sixteen adaptability indices, including heat resistance, drought and cold resistance, disease resistance, emergence days, turfgrass restore ability, smoothness, resilience, density, uniformity, coverage, texture, seedling vigor, green period, turf establishment and color of 9 turfgrass cultivars were evaluated by principal component analysis, subordinate function and cluster analysis. The results showed that the 16 adaptability indices had different responses, among which texture and heat resistance showed the greatest sensitivity. Some indices were significantly correlated．Four principal factors represented 92% information of the 16 indices, while the cultivar Coalnaduo had outstanding performance with the first principal factor. According to the comprehensive evaluation by the 3 methods, these 9 turfgrass cultivars could be clustered into 3 groups: Park and Barvictorbelonged to the best group; Pinnacle, Premier, Accent, Fairway, Lark and Emeraldbelonged to the second group; Coalnaduo belonged to the poor group.