Evaluation of native and introduced grasses for low-input pastures in temperate Australia: experimental approach, site and genotype descriptions

Norton, Mark; Mitchell, Meredith; Kobelt, E.; Hall, E.

doi:10.1071/rj05002

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…A broad-scale evaluation trial was conducted for 3 years during the 1990s comparing the survival, recruitment and herbage mass production of 31 accessions of a range of species of native grasses at eight sites spread across temperate Australia (Garden et al 2005;Norton et al 2005;Sanford et al 2005;Waters et al 2005;Whalley et al 2005). Where multiple accessions of one species were compared, selected varieties of Rytidosperma caespitosum (Austrodanthonia caespitosa) and R. bipartitum (A. bipartita) sometimes outperformed their locally sourced progenitors in terms of herbage mass produced (Garden et al 2005;Waters et al 2005).…”

Section: Self-fertilisation and The Genesis Of Locally Adapted Genotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revegetation with Australian native grasses – a reassessment of the importance of using local provenances

Whalley¹,

Waters

2013

Rangel. J.

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Many restoration guidelines strongly recommend the use of local sources of seed in native plant revegetation projects. These recommendations are based on assumptions that the species used for revegetation are cross-pollinated and woody, as they were developed for overstorey vegetation from the northern hemisphere. Their validity is challenged with respect to replacing or enhancing the native Australian grass component of degraded ecosystems. First, far from being the dominant pollination mechanism, obligatory cross-pollination has not been recorded in any Australian native grasses except for a few dioecious species. Indeed, the common Australian native grasses so far studied have revealed complicated breeding systems that provide the evolutionary resilience necessary for coping with the variable Australian climate as well as with future climate change. It is suggested that a key feature of this flexibility is polyploidy and its implications for sourcing seed are discussed. Second, it is argued that the genetic dissimilarity among populations of a species is not proportional to the distance between them but is more related to the environmental stresses that have been placed on those populations in the past. This is illustrated by different scales of ecotypic variation that are often trait-dependent. Evidence for this can be found in several translocation experiments, where populations of native grasses from a great distance away survive and often perform better than local populations. It is concluded that there is little justification for the recommendation that only local sources of seed of Australian native grasses should be used for revegetation projects, and particularly in large-scale programs. Instead, it is argued that studies on Australian native grasses provide clear evidence that distinct adaptive advantages may be gained by sourcing non-local provenance seed, which is matched to the environment of the revegetation site, and which contains appropriate stress tolerance genes, or by mixing populations from several locations to increase the genetic diversity of seed sources. Some general guidelines are provided for deciding whether or not to use local provenances depending on the purpose of the revegetation, the degree of environmental modification of the site and the characteristics of the species of choice.

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Section: Self-fertilisation and The Genesis Of Locally Adapted Genotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revegetation with Australian native grasses – a reassessment of the importance of using local provenances

Whalley¹,

Waters

2013

Rangel. J.

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“…Restoration can utilize germplasm bred for weed suppression (Asay et al, 2003). Search results yielded 3 studies that examined genomic improvements of native grasses (Asay et al, 2003; Jensen et al, 2012; Norton et al, 2005). Given that functional traits of native species likely play a huge role in the success of weed suppression selection for desirable traits and transferring these traits to germplasm used for restoration can potentially increase the predictability and performance of seeded plant populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biomass and palatability to livestock were traits suggested to be evaluated to better determine forage availability and appropriate grazing intensity (Norton et al, 2005). Accessions of native and introduced species can be utilized for better system-level performance in order to meet both forage demand and vegetation cover to prevent weed invasions.…”

Section: Breeding As a Tool For Native Grasses Improvementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Native grasses’ potential of providing ecological weed suppression in rangeland and natural areas: A scoping review

Zhang

Galvin

2023

Outlook Agric

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Weedy species invasions are a huge problem in rangeland and natural areas as they degrade the quality and quantity of forage for livestock and reduce biodiversity. Weed suppression using native grasses is an ecologically driven method of weed management, representing an opportunity for low-input and management over long temporal scales if these systems can be successfully established. A systemic literature review was conducted to explore the interactions between native grasses and weeds, and revealed the potential of native grasses to provide a reduction in weed presence through interactions with other biological communities. We proposed the merging of agronomic and breeding techniques with restoration efforts such as using specialized seeding techniques to establish native grasses in these systems. A generalized planning framework for land managers is also presented, emphasizing the consideration of functional traits for competitive advantage against weeds and germplasm availability as the main considerations for species selection. Management strategies that provide advantages to native grasses such as land clearance and strategic disturbances were also discussed. Suppression can occur through a variety of mechanisms including direct competition with weeds, indirect interactions through trophic levels of arthropods and grazers, and human-induced disturbances. From our results, we believe that native grasses can potentially play an important role in efficacious weed suppression if utilized tactfully.

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Emergence, survival and seed production of Enteropogon ramosus in a pasture - wheat rotation or continuous pasture rotation in the wheatbelt of Western Australia

Borger

Riethmuller²,

Hashem

2010

Crop Pasture Sci.

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Enteropogon ramosus is a native, perennial, C4 grass species found within the wheatbelt of Western Australia. Emergence, survival, seed production and seed dormancy of E. ramosus was investigated in a continuous pasture rotation, a pasture–minimum tillage wheat rotation, and a pasture–minimum tillage wheat rotation where a cultivation event at the beginning of the pasture year was used to kill all E. ramosus plants. The results indicated that E. ramosus could germinate throughout the year, although plant density (ranging annually from 0 to 17 plants m−2) was lowest in conditions of low rainfall (summer–autumn drought). Seed production (estimated from seed head production, r = 91.7, P < 0.001) ranged from 0 to 2274 m–2 and was greatest in spring, in the continuous pasture rotation. Seed germinability reached 80–89%, following an initial 3 months of dormancy directly after seed production. Cultivation at the beginning of the pasture-crop rotation killed all plants, reduced emergence and prevented seed production for the 2-year period of the experiment. Soil disturbance from minimum tillage crop sowing reduced but did not eliminate E. ramosus plants. As a result, E. ramosus grew throughout the year in the minimum tillage cropping system. Further research is required to determine the competitive effect of E. ramosus on crop growth.

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Evaluation of native and introduced grasses for low-input pastures in temperate Australia: experimental approach, site and genotype descriptions

Cited by 9 publications

References 14 publications

Revegetation with Australian native grasses – a reassessment of the importance of using local provenances

Revegetation with Australian native grasses – a reassessment of the importance of using local provenances

Native grasses’ potential of providing ecological weed suppression in rangeland and natural areas: A scoping review

Emergence, survival and seed production of Enteropogon ramosus in a pasture - wheat rotation or continuous pasture rotation in the wheatbelt of Western Australia

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