Responses of Seed Yield Components to the Field Practices for Regulating Seed Yield of Smooth Bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.)
, Shangang Jia 1 and Peisheng Mao 1,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
in the section 2.3.2. Seed yield (line 27). Please described briefly the air drying conditions (T° and time) and the methodology of threshing. Mention also the precission level (±0.01 gr?) of the scale used for weighting the samples.
2.4. Statistical analysis
Specify that a Pearson's correlation was performed.
Table 7. Check the super index (it should be m−2 and kg·ha-1not m−2 and kg·ha-1).
all tables: check the letters that indicate significant difference. They have to be super index like 123a and not like this:123a.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
This study examined the effects of different nitrogen and phosphorous application on smooth bromegrass’s seed yield and yield components in a five-year field experiment. Unfortunately, the aim of this study remained unclear in the study. Why did they choose this topic? What did they want to prove? The authors should clarify better the aim of their study. The manuscript is concise and presents high-value results for practical application in the seed production of grass.
Abstract
Line 18: remove „could potentially”
Line 20: correct „seed growers”
Line 20: Correct... This study investigated…. Please try to avoid personal pronouns in a scientific article.
The aim of the study is missing. Please add the goal of the study. The investigation is not an aim. The investigation is a tool to answer the 0 hypothesis or the aims.
Line 22: Please correct : (30, 45, 60, and 75 cm)
Line 23: Please correct : (0, 60, 90, and 120 kg P ha-1)
Line 26: remove “could be”
Line 27: remove “could be”
The authors already have data so please do not use “could be”. If they use could be, the results are not standing very well, so the results could be correct or incorrect.
Line 33: please correct “rain-fed conditions”
Line 34: Avoid personal pronouns so please rewrite this sentence.
Keywords: Please arrange the keywords in an alphabetical order.
Introduction
Line 40: Please correct … irrigation, and weed control, etc.
Please check Oxford commas through the manuscripts.
Line 61: please correct … plays an important role…. Nitrogen is still one of the most important nutrients for plants so do not use simple past.
Line 64: Please correct … Application of appropriate amount of nitrogen increase seed yield…
Please add more information about the role of nitrogen in seed formation, seed development.
Line 68-72: please do not use simple past. If the authors would like to use simple past they should write e.g. the following: XY in their research showed that phosphorous deficiency affected plant photosynthesis….
Line 68: P deficiency how affects photosynthesis? negatively or positively? Does it affect the photosynthetic rate, the chlorophyll content, or the effectiveness of PSII? Please the authors write more information about these important questions.
Line 81. Please add more information about the worldwide situation of smooth bromegrass. Is it an important plant in China? If so, why? Why did the authors choose this plant as a test plant?
Line 92: Please rewrite the sentence. What was the objective exactly? What was the aim of this study? Please clarify it.
Materials and Methods
Line 126: Did the authors mean that they collect three samples per plot to determine the seed yield? And how many replicates were used?
Results
Table 2. Please indicate the number of repetitions (n=x) below the table. Did the authors use biological or technical repetitions or both?
Table 3. Please indicate the number of repetitions (n=x) below the table. Did the authors use biological or technical repetitions or both?
Table 4. How many samples were used to create the mean values? Please add (n=x).
Please check the all manuscript carefully and avoid “could” and “would”.
The results and discussion are correct. But, without a clear aim not possible to make a correct conclusion.
Overall, the manuscript is a valuable study, it is well written, but the above questions should be addressed.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors investigated the effect of: four different row spacings - 30, 45, 60, and 75 cm; four levels of P application - 0, 60, 90, and 120 kg P ha−1; and two levels of N application - 0 and 100 kg N ha−1 on seed yield components and their contributions to the seed yield in smooth bromegrass. They found out that optimum seed yield could be obtained with optimum row spacing (45 cm), nitrogen application rate at 100 kg P ha−1 and phosphorus application rate at 60 kg P ha−1.
I do find this work interesting and valuable. The manuscript is written very well. I did not find any mistakes. One suggestion only: there was not shown the interaction of RxN although it was significant. Perhaps you could add these data.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
