Ninety-one perennial legumes and herbs (entries) from 47 species in 21 genera were evaluated at sites in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia over 3 years from 2002 to 2005 to identify plants with superior herbage production, persistence and the potential to reduce ground water recharge. Evaluation was undertaken in three nurseries (general, waterlogged soil and acid soil). Medicago sativa L. subsp. sativa (lucerne) cv. Sceptre was the best performing species across all sites. In the general and acid soil nurseries, Cichorium intybus L. (chicory) cv. Grasslands Puna was the only species comparable with Sceptre lucerne in terms of persistence and herbage production. Trifolium fragiferum L. cv. Palestine and Lotus corniculatus L. SA833 were the best performing species on heavy clay soils prone to waterlogging. Three Dorycnium hirsutum (L.) Ser. accessions persisted well on acid soils, but were slow to establish. Short-lived perennial forage legumes, such as Onobrychis viciifolia Scop. cv. Othello, and three Hedysarum coronarium L. entries, including cv. Grasslands Aokou, had high herbage production in the first 2 years and may be suitable for short-term pastures in phased pasture-crop farming systems. T. uniflorum L. and M. sativa subsp. caerulea SA38052 were highly persistent and could play a role as companion species in mixtures or ground cover species for undulating landscapes. Cullen australasicum (Schltdl.) G.W. Grimes SA4966 and Lotononis bainesii Baker cv. Miles had poor establishment, but were persistent. Chicory, T. fragiferum and L. corniculatus were identified as species, other than lucerne, with the most immediate potential for further selection to increase the diversity of perennial legumes and herbs adapted to southern Australian environments.

Differential survival and recruitment patterns are commonly ignored within plant selection and breeding programs, where attention is focused largely on selection of cultivars with high biomass and seed yields. However, in low-input situations, where fertiliser application is limited, the use of pasture species with superior survival and recruitment characteristics can offer the potential of cost-effective pasture establishment. We investigated the comparative survival and seedling recruitment of 62 native and introduced perennial grasses under low-fertility conditions within three agro-ecological zones of temperate Australia: the temperate high-rainfall pasture zone; drier mixed-farming areas and Mediterranean southern Australia. Plants were grown from seed in glasshouses and transplanted to the field as spaced plants within 6–8 weeks. At regular intervals, survival of transplanted plants and recruitment of new plants were recorded. We found high mortality over a relatively short (24-month) period among both native and introduced grasses, despite good establishment. Frost damage at the cooler sites resulted in death of some C4 plants early in the experiment. Survival of some lines declined following the dry summer of 2000–01, and lines with best survival after this time were Eragrostis curvula cv. Consol, Austrodanthonia fulva (from Dalgety and Wagga, NSW) and Paspalidium jubiflorum (from Warren, NSW). C3 grasses, which generally had poor survival were a Microlaena stipoides selection from Nile, Tasmania, and two lines of Elymus scaber (Boorowa and Tumut, NSW). The C4 grasses Chloris truncata (Girilambone, NSW) and Dichanthium sericeum (Trangie, NSW) also exhibited poor survival, although there were exceptions at some sites. The native lines A. caespitosa Tas2407, M. stipoides cv. Shannon and A. racemosa were the most successful recruiters. Introduced lines generally had lower recruitment, although two lines of D. glomerata from Spain recruited well at some sites. C4 lines generally had poor recruitment, including E. curvula cv. Consol, Bothriochloa macra, Themeda australis, Enteropogon acicularis, D. sericeum, P. jubiflorum and P. constrictum. The role of plants adapted to low-input situations is discussed, as well as the implications of the attributes of survival and recruitment for selection of new cultivars for these situations.

A total of 62 perennial grasses were evaluated for herbage production under low-fertiliser conditions at eight sites in the temperate zone of southern Australia from 1999 to 2001. A brief assessment of relative preference ranking by sheep was also made at the end of the experimental period. Four sites were in the high rainfall areas of south-east Australia, two in the drier mixed farming areas of western NSW, and two sites in Mediterranean southern Australia. Seven standard cultivars were included in the comparisons. Plants were grown from seed in glasshouses and transplanted to the field as spaced plants at 6–8 weeks age. Plants were harvested at irregular intervals by clipping to determine herbage production. Relative preference was determined by enclosing sheep in the experimental area at high stocking rates and estimating the amount of herbage grazed after 1, 3 and 5 days. Herbage production data were analysed using a multi-environment trial approach in which the environments comprised all combinations of sites and sampling times over the 3-year period. Overall, 73.6% of the total genetic variation for herbage production was accounted for. Average seasonal comparisons revealed good herbage production from Eragrostis curvula cv. Consol in both winter and summer, but in spring, several Dactylis glomerata lines were the most productive. Consol was not generally preferred by sheep, while D. glomerata lines were. Apart from cv. Consol, C4 species, including Bothriochloa macra, Chloris truncata, Enteropogon acicularis and Dichanthium sericeum had low herbage production in winter and spring, and had low acceptability to grazing sheep. These particular grasses were also not highly ranked for production in summer, although other C4 lines, notably selections of Themeda australis, Paspalidium jubiflorum and P. constrictum were. Few native C3 grasses had superior herbage production, although selections of Elymus scaber, Austrodanthonia fulva and A. duttoniana showed good growth rates. When considering further evaluation, grasses with very high recruitment (e.g. A. caespitosa) may need to be included, and the acceptability of grasses to sheep should also be assessed.

This paper is the fifth in a series describing trials evaluating native and introduced grasses at eight locations across temperate Australia. In these trials, 62 perennial grass lines were assessed for herbage production, survival and recruitment under low fertiliser conditions using spaced plants produced in glass houses and transplanted into the field. Sites were grouped into three different climatic zones: Eastern Australian permanent pasture, Eastern Australian mixed farming and Mediterranean zone. For each of these zones, superior lines were identified and their potential use in permanent pastures or mixed farming discussed. Among the C3 grasses tested, several lines of Dactylis glomerata from France on the Mediterranean coast near the Spanish border and from north-west maritime France proved to be superior lines in all zones and were better than the standard comparator cv. Currie with regard to the attributes assessed. In general, the D. glomerata lines were superior to the C3 native species except with respect to survival and recruitment. The C4 introduced standard comparator Eragrostis curvula cv. Consol was outstanding with regard to its herbage production and survival in all climatic zones, although its recruitment was generally low. Native C4 lines of Themeda australis and Paspalidium jubiflorum yielded well in all climatic zones, and even produced more herbage than Consol in one zone. Survival rates of T. australis and P. jubiflorum were also very high but recruitment was low under the conditions of the trial. In mixed pastures C4 grasses may reduce fluctuations in feed supply as well as increase water use. As a consequence mixtures of superior C3 and C4 lines identified in this study are likely to be suitable for pastures on infertile soils and in zones subjected to continuous or periodic drought. Further work on the behaviour of these superior lines under sward conditions in association with forage legumes and their responses to grazing is needed; however, for the promising native lines, sward trials are not possible until suitable technology for commercial seed production and broad acre establishment of these lines has been developed.