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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 60(8)

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

S. P. Boschma A B C , G. M. Lodge A B and S. Harden A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, 4 Marsden Park Road, Calala, NSW 2340, Australia.

B Future Farm Industries CRC, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: suzanne.boschma@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Crop and Pasture Science 60(8) 753-767 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP08357
Submitted: 14 October 2008  Accepted: 29 May 2009   Published: 5 August 2009

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.

Additional keywords: phalaris, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, Bromus, Ehrharta, native grasses, tropical grasses, chicory, plantain.


Acknowledgments

These studies were funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mark Brennan and Brian Roworth in collecting the data, and Angus and Tiffany Faulks for use of their land.


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