Establishment and persistence of perennial grass and herb cultivars and lines in a recharge area, North-West Slopes, New South Wales

Abstract

Two adjacent sites, one previously cropped and the other a native pasture, were sown with perennial temperate and tropical grasses and herbs (Expt 1), Phalaris aquatica (phalaris) and Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue) cultivars or lines (Expt 2), and perennial tropical grasses (Expt 3) near Manilla, NSW. Establishment, herbage mass and plant frequency were assessed in 2003–06 to (i) identify cultivars/lines with superior persistence, (ii) detect possible mechanisms required for successful production and persistence in a summer-dominant rainfall environment, and (iii) examine the comparative performance of the species groups when sown into previously cropped and native pasture areas. Plots were fertilised annually and grazed or mown at least seasonally. Most cultivars/lines persisted at the previously cropped site, while those on the native pasture site had to be resown and generally failed to persist beyond the first year. At the previously cropped site, summer-dormant tall fescue cv. Resolute MaxP® was the most persistent of the grasses evaluated in Expt 1. Grasses such as Lolium perenne cv. Avalon and Bromus stamineus cv. Gala did not perenneate, but regenerated annually from seed. Native grasses generally had poor establishment; however, Austrodanthonia richardsonii and A. fulva tended to increase in plant frequency over time. Chloris gayana (Rhodes grass) cv. Katambora and Panicum maximum (panic) cv. Gatton were the only tropical grasses that established in Expt 1, and both had plant frequencies similar (P > 0.05) to the temperate grasses at the final assessment. In Expt 2, Resolute MaxP again was the most persistent cultivar/line. Several experimental lines of phalaris (e.g. T39 and M225) had high herbage mass and good persistence compared with commercial cultivars. In Expt 3, Katambora Rhodes grass and Digitaria eriantha ssp. eriantha (digit grass) cv. Premier were the most persistent cultivars and had the highest herbage mass. These data highlighted summer dormancy in temperate grasses and frost tolerance in tropical grasses as two possible mechanisms important for persistence of grasses on the North-West Slopes of NSW and the risks associated with sowing perennial grasses into established native pastures.

Herbage production and persistence of two tropical perennial grasses and forage sorghum under different nitrogen fertilization and defoliation regimes in a summer‐dominant rainfall environment, Australia

“…Both perennial grasses have shown wide adaptation and high production (e.g. McCormick et al ., ; Boschma et al ., ) and forage sorghum is the commonly sown summer forage in this environment. The perennial grasses were sown with a tyned cone seeder (six rows, 0·2 m apart) on 6 December 2005 to a depth of 5 mm at 2 kg ha −1 viable seed.…”

“…During 2003–06, Boschma et al . () evaluated a range of temperate and tropical grasses as part of a national evaluation programme (Nie et al ., ; Reed et al ., ). These studies were conducted during an extended period of low rainfall and clearly showed the contrasting production potential and responsiveness to rainfall of tropical grasses compared to temperate grasses.…”

“…Grazing management is important for persistence of these grasses (e.g. Lodge and Orchard, ), as is summer dormancy (Culvenor and Boschma, ; Boschma et al ., ). Tropical grasses play an integral role in grazing systems in southern Queensland, while in northern NSW, they are a relatively newer pasture option that are productive (e.g.…”

“…Tropical grasses play an integral role in grazing systems in southern Queensland, while in northern NSW, they are a relatively newer pasture option that are productive (e.g. Boschma et al ., , ) and widely adapted (McCormick et al ., ), although frost tolerance is important for their persistence in this summer‐dominant rainfall environment (Boschma et al ., ).…”

Evaluation of pasture legumes in northern New South Wales, Australia

“…The results from the current study are complemented by those from later studies of mostly perennial legumes reported by Li et al (2008), Boschma et al (2010a) and Boschma et al (2011) for a site on a Brown Vertosol soil, near Manilla on the North-West Slopes of NSW, which included entries of sulla, Onobrychis viciafolia Scop. (sainfoin) and lucerne.…”