Germinable soil seed banks in native pastures in north-eastern Australia

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
JG McIvor ◽  
CJ Gardener
Keyword(s):  
Seed Banks ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Soil Seed Banks ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Small Seed ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
Native Pastures ◽  
Total Seed ◽  
Tussock Grasses

Germinable soil seed banks were determined in 20 native pasture communities of widely varying composition (dominated by native tussock grasses, Bothriochloa pertusa, or forbs) near Collinsville (20�34'S, 147�51'E). Samples of surface soil (0-10 cm) were taken during the late dry season, seeds were germinated in a shadehouse, and seedlings were identified and counted. Over all pastures there were seeds of 100 species in the seed banks, including 29 grasses (14 perennial), 11 legumes, 8 sedges, and 52 forbs. Total seed numbers varied among pastures from 210 to 9770/m2. Forbs were the most numerous component, followed in order by sedges, perennial grasses, annual grasses, and legumes. Of the 790 seeds/m2 of perennial grasses, the naturalised species B. pertusa contributed 620/m2. Even though the native perennial grasses were prominent in these pastures, they had few seeds in the soil, especially when the pastures had been heavily grazed. To maintain these grasses in pastures, management should aim to prevent excessive mortality of the perennial plants as seedling regeneration could be limited by the small seed numbers available.

The impact of pasture development and grazing on water-yielding catchments in the Murray - Darling Basin in south-eastern Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 817 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Johnston ◽  
D. L. Garden ◽  
A. Rančić ◽  
T. B. Koen ◽  
K. B. Dassanayake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Wagga Wagga ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Productivity Gain ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
The Impact

Experiments conducted from November 1996 to June 2002 in adjacent small catchments near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, compared the productivity and hydrology of a heavily fertilised (about 30 kg phosphorus/ha.year) Phalaris aquatica (phalaris) pasture with that of a lightly fertilised (about 14 kg phosphorus/ha every second year) native grassland that contained a mixture of C3 and C4 perennial grasses, dominantly C4 Bothriochloa macra (redgrass).In summer, the native catchment was dominated by C4 perennial grasses while the phalaris catchment was dominated by annual C4 weedy species. During the cooler months, the phalaris pasture contained higher proportions of Vulpia spp., and other less-desirable annual grasses. Throughout the experiment, the native catchment was dominated by redgrass, whereas in the phalaris catchment the persistence of phalaris declined. Redgrass became prominent on the more arid aspects of the phalaris catchment as the experiment progressed.Pasture production in the phalaris catchment was higher in most seasons than the native catchment, which resulted in an overall stocking rate advantage of about 80%. The productivity gain per unit of P input was 0.4 for the phalaris catchment compared with 1 for the native catchment, implying that phosphorus was applied to the phalaris catchment at an excessive rate.During wet periods the native catchment produced substantially more runoff than the phalaris catchment, while in dry times it developed substantially larger soil water deficits. Runoff from the phalaris catchment was higher in suspended and dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus than for the native catchment. Higher runoff from the native catchment combined with its drier soil profile in summer indicated that its deep drainage potential was less than in the phalaris catchment.

The effects of grazing and fire on vegetation and the vertebrate assemblage in a tropical savanna woodland in north-eastern Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex. S. Kutt ◽  
John C. Z. Woinarski
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Floristic Data ◽  
Vertebrate Assemblage ◽  
Tussock Grasses

We studied the response of vegetation and vertebrate assemblages to fire and grazing, and their interacting effects, in Eucalyptus woodland in north-eastern Australia. In this vegetation type, many pastures remain free of cattle grazing due to the occurrence of a native shrub poisonous to livestock. Vegetation (floristic data and 22 habitat variables) and vertebrate fauna (birds, mammals, reptiles) were sampled in 29 standardized 50 × 50-m quadrats in the 2001 wet season, representing four treatments: sites burnt recently (within 2 y) and grazed by cattle (4–8 ha per livestock unit); sites unburnt (last burnt >2 y ago) and grazed; sites burnt recently and ungrazed; and unburnt and ungrazed sites. Fire and grazing had a significant influence on vegetation: both grazing and fire reduced ground cover (fire in grazed sites 51–23%, fire in ungrazed sites 68–39%) and increased the cover of forbs (8% in burnt and grazed sites, 3% if ungrazed) and tussock grasses (20% in grazed and unburnt sites and 5% when ungrazed). Grazing caused a shift in floristic composition from the perennial hummock grass Trioda pungens to tussock grasses (e.g. Aristida spp., Enneapogon spp.), forbs (e.g. Phyllanthus spp.) and shrubs (e.g. Acacia spp.). Of the vertebrate groups, birds responded more to fire effects (9 species), reptiles to grazing effects (6 species) and mammals to the interaction (2 species). Species reacted to increases in bare ground (e.g. crested pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes, hooded robin Melanodryas cucullatus, Ctenophorus nuchalis) and to the dominant ground cover (e.g. Ctenotus pantherinus) or change in vegetation architecture (e.g. singing honeyeater Lichenostomus virescens, variegated fairy-wren Malurus lamberti). The clearest example of an interacting effect was the cycle of complementary dominance between the rodents Pseudomys delicatulus and P. desertor, the latter's post-fire recovery becoming more muted in sites where cattle grazed (modelled time for population recovery twice as long as in ungrazed sites).

Seed coating and localized application of phosphate for improving seedling growth of grasses on acid, sandy red earths

1982 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 785 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Silcock ◽  
FT Smith
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Growth ◽  
Surface Soil ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Phosphate Fertilizers ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Reasonable Cost ◽  
Phosphorus Sources ◽  
Native Pastures

The seedling growth of tropical grasses on acidic, sandy red earths was improved greatly by the application of small amounts of phosphate fertilizers in close proximity to the seed. Fertilizer had to be applied within 5 cm of the seed of Anthephora pubescens to have any effect. Many phosphorus sources stimulated seedling growth of Cenchrus ciliaris when applied as coatings to the fascicle (the propagule containing the grain). Water-soluble orthophosphates proved the best phosphorus sources for the purpose. Optimum rates of coating ranged up to 2 mg phosphorus per fascicle (10 mg monosodium phosphate), depending on the availability of surface soil moisture. Valuable grasses such as C. ciliaris could be introduced into millions of hectares of native pastures on infertile, sandy soils in north-eastern Australia, at reasonable cost, if a suitable commercial coating process can be developed.

The Influence of Recent Grazing Pressure and Landscape Position on Grass Recruitment in a Semi-Arid Woodland of Eastern Australia.

1996 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
VJ Anderson ◽  
KC Hodgkinson ◽  
AC Grice
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
History Of ◽  
Semi Arid

This study examined the effects of previous grazing pressure, position in the landscape and apparent seed trapping capability of soil surface micro-sites on recruitment of the perennial grass Monachather paradoxa (mulga oats) in a semi-arid woodland. Seedling emergence was counted on small plots which had been kept moist for one month. The plots were on bare ground, or at grass tussocks, or at log mounds, sited in the run-off, interception and run-on zones of paddocks that had been grazed for six years at 0.3 and 0.8 sheep equivalent/ha. Few naturally occurring perennial grass seedlings emerged on any of the sites. The level of previous grazing pressure influenced the recruitment of grasses from natural sources as well as from seed of M. paradoxa broadcast on the soil surface; significantly more grass seedlings recruited in paddocks stocked at 0.3 than at 0.8 sheep/ha. Emergence of the sown grass did not differ significantly between the three zones in the landscape, but trends in the data suggest the interception zone may have been the most favourable. Recruitment from in situ grass seed was highest in the mulga grove (run-on) zone. Most seedlings of the sown grass emerged around the bases of existing perennial grass tussocks, but recruitment of volunteer perennial and annual grasses was more evenly distributed between the mulga log-mounds and perennial grass tussocks. It is concluded that very low levels of readily germinable seed of perennial grasses remained in the soil at the end of the drought and that areas with a history of high grazing pressure have less probability of grass recruitment when suitable rain occurs.

Recovery of rain forest soil seed banks under different reforestation pathways in eastern Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Paul ◽  
Carla P. Catterall ◽  
John Kanowski ◽  
Peter C. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Forest Soil ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Soil Seed Banks ◽  
Eastern Australia

scholarly journals Soil Seed Bank and Aboveground Vegetation in Grazing Lands of Southern Marmara, Turkey

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Altıngül ÖZASLAN PARLAK ◽  
Ahmet GÖKKUŞ ◽  
Hasan Can DEMİRAY
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Vegetation Survey ◽  
Soil Seed Banks ◽  
Grazing Lands

The composition and conservation of plant communities is greatly influenced by the soil seed bank. Information on the soil seed banks and the remaining vegetation in these ecosystems is crucial for guiding the restoration efforts. This study examines the size, species richness, diversity, uniformity, and similarity of soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation in 6 different grazing lands including coastal pasture, reseeded pasture, artificial pasture, lowland shrubland, ungrazed pasture, and hillside shrubland. Forty-eight soil samples were taken by cores with a diameter and depth of 10 cm from each of grazing lands in August of 2007. A vegetation survey was conducted using a 0.5 x 0.5-m quadrant in both the spring and fall. Eighty species were observed in soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation. The largest seed bank was observed in reseeded pasture (7,715 seed/m2), while the smallest seed bank was found in coastal pasture (2,755 seed/m2). Coastal pasture also possessed the least amount of aboveground vegetation (131 plants/m2). The most aboveground vegetation was found in ungrazed pasture (155 plants/m2). The most common species in seed banks were annual and perennial grasses in reseeded pasture, annual forbs in artificial pasture and hillside shrubland, and perennial forbs in low shrubland and ungrazed pasture. Species richness, diversity, and uniformity in seed banks were highest in lowland shrubland and lowest in artificial pasture. The seed bank and aboveground vegetation were similar in ungrazed pasture, coastal pasture, reseeded pasture, low shrubland, hillside shrubland and artificial pasture. Shrublands play an important role in species richness and the number of germinated seeds from seed banks of grazing lands in southern Marmara. The results showed that reseeding or a decrease in grazing pressure may improve the condition of grazing lands.

Studies of competition between Nassella trichotoma (Nees) Hack. ex Arechav. (serrated tussock) and native pastures. 2. Seedling responses

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. B. Badgery ◽  
D. R. Kemp ◽  
D. L. Michalk ◽  
W. McG. King
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Native Grass ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Native Pastures ◽  
Grass Weed ◽  
Native Perennial Grass

Native perennial grass competition can substantially reduce the invasion of Nassella trichotoma (serrated tussock), a major perennial grass weed problem in south-eastern Australia. This paper reports on a field experiment that investigated the recruitment of N. trichotoma seedlings, and determined what level of native grass competition was needed to prevent establishment in the central-west of NSW. Grasslands that maintained >2 t dry matter (DM)/ha and 100% ground cover (measured in spring) prevented N. trichotoma seedling recruitment. Relatively small amounts of perennial grass (>0.5 t DM/ha measured in spring) resulted in mortality of N. trichotoma seedlings that had recruited earlier in the year, through the next summer. Flupropanate also markedly reduced native perennial grasses and substantially increased N. trichotoma seedling establishment 12 months after application. Rotational grazing to maintain adequate levels of DM was an important management tactic that prevented N. trichotoma establishment and survival.

Germinable soil seedbanks in native pastures near Crows Nest, south-east Queensland

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. McIvor ◽  
I. Saeli ◽  
J. J. Hodgkinson ◽  
H. M. Shelton
Keyword(s):  
Species Group ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Major Species ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
Native Pastures ◽  
Total Seed ◽  
Tussock Grasses

The soil seedbanks in three patch types (tall grassland, short sward and lawn) were measured in native pastures near Crows Nest, south-east Queensland in two experiments. In the first experiment, seedbanks were measured at four sites, and in the second, the variation in seedbanks during the year was measured at one site. In each experiment the size and composition of the seedbanks were determined by germinating the seeds in soil samples. In the first experiment, total seed numbers ranged from ~6000 to 12,000 per m2. There were no significant differences between sites for total seeds or for seeds of any species group except legumes which comprised only a small portion of the seedbanks. There were significant differences between patch types for total seeds and for the following species groups, medium tussock grasses, short tussock grasses, stoloniferous grasses, legumes and forbs but not large tussock grasses and sedges. Total seed numbers, and those of medium tussock grasses, stoloniferous grasses and forbs were highest in the lawn patches and lowest in the short sward patches. Legumes had higher numbers in the tall grassland patches than in other patch types. In the second experiment, there were large differences between total seed numbers at the different sample dates (January, May, September and November). Numbers were highest in January and then declined throughout the year. This pattern was largely a reflection of the changes in numbers of forb seeds, the species group with the most seeds. There were no significant differences between patch types for total seeds but there were for medium tussock grasses, stoloniferous grasses, sedges and forbs. There was no relationship between the composition of the pasture sward and the composition of the seedbank for any of the three patch types. Twenty-eight species were allocated to persistent and transient seedbank types; all seedbank types occurred in all three patch types. The major species in the seedbanks were sedges (Cyperus gracilis, C. sesquiflorus), forbs (Gamochaeta spp., Paronychia brasiliana, Daucus glochidiatus) and Eragrostis spp.

Excess cation concentrations in shoots and roots of pasture species of importance in south-eastern Australia

2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 883 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Braschkat ◽  
P. J. Randall
Keyword(s):  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Trifolium Subterraneum ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Grazed Pasture ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
Main Production ◽  
Production Period ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Excess cation concentrations (total cations – total inorganic anions) are reported for roots and shoots of 16 plant species of importance in pastures in south-eastern Australia. This information is required for the calculation of acidification in grazed pasture systems. The excess cation concentrations for shoots at flowering were [cmol(+)/kg]: perennial grasses — Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) 50, Phalaris aquatic (phalaris) 51, Danthonia richardsonii (wallaby grass) 30, Dactylus glomerata (cocksfoot) 62, Holcus lanatus (Fog grass) 60; annual grasses — Lolium rigidum 29, Vulpia bromoides (vulpia) 40, Hordeum leporinum (barley grass) 46, Bromus mollis (soft brome) 59; perennial legumes — Medicago sativa (lucerne) 115, Trifolium repens (white clover) 147; annual legumes — Trifolium subterraneum (subterranean clover) 142, Medicago truncatula (barrel medic) 114, Ornithopus sativus (serradella) 137; weeds — Arctotheca calendula (cape weed) 165, Echium plantagineum (Paterson’s curse) 169. Values for roots were in the same order as shoots in vulpia and wallaby grass but lower for the other species, varying between 26 and 62% of the shoot value in grasses and 29 and 49% in legumes. For a subset of 4 legumes and 3 grasses, the excess cation concentrations in shoots were measured over the main production period in spring. Excess cation concentrations generally declined during the season, with the change being relatively larger in grasses than legumes.

Grazing pressure and tree competition affect cattle performance and native pastures in Eucalypt woodlands of Queensland, north-eastern Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 953
Author(s):  
Trevor J. Hall ◽  
Richard G. Silcock ◽  
David G. Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Eucalypt Woodlands ◽  
Native Pastures ◽  
Grazing Pressures

Context Well managed grazing pressure will optimise animal and pasture production, and preserve the soil to maintain a viable beef business on native pastures in eucalypt woodlands. Aims A cattle grazing experiment was established to measure animal and pasture performance under management practices used in the Aristida/Bothriochloa native pastures in central Queensland. Methods Performance of Brahman-cross steers and pastures were measured in an experiment with three grazing pressures by two tree densities in a Eucalyptus populnea woodland in north-eastern Australia over 8 years in paddocks of 4–18 ha. Key results At low grazing pressure with trees killed by herbicide (‘cleared’), stocking rate increased 35% as pasture composition and biomass improved over 8 years. At low grazing pressure where treed, stocking rate remained constant, however, at high grazing pressure where treed, it was reduced after 4 years. The annual liveweight gain increased from 0.37 to 0.45 to 0.51 kg/head.day as grazing pressure was reduced from high to medium to low grazing pressure respectively, and across grazing pressures it decreased from 0.49 where cleared to 0.39 kg/head.day where treed. Liveweight gain per hectare increased under low grazing pressure and declined at medium and high pressures. Body condition scores responded positively to lower grazing pressure and a lack of tree competition to pastures. This treatment combination also produced higher animal sale values. Pasture biomass, basal area and ground cover were all affected negatively by increasing grazing pressure. Conclusions Grazing 25% of autumn pasture improved dry matter production, species composition and land condition, and increased steer growth rates, body condition and their market value. This grazing pressure produced an increasing trend in stocking rates relative to the decline at higher grazing pressures. Higher liveweight gain/ha was produced initially at high grazing pressure (75% utilisation), however, after 4 years animal condition and pastures deteriorated, requiring a reduction in stocking rate to maintain the condition of both the remaining animals and the pastures. Managing tree competition to pastures is necessary to maintain the higher animal production potential. Implications This objective information demonstrates the benefits for cattle, pastures and long-term economic outcomes of managing for conservative grazing pressure and controlling tree competition to pasture in this woodland. Applying these findings can improve beef business outcomes and provide management groups with objective educational resources.

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