When an introduced pasture grass becomes a conservation threat: managing buffel grass in the rangelands of Australia
Buffel grass ( Cenchrus ciliaris L.) is native to Africa, the Middle East through to India, and Indonesia.It has been imported into other continents to improve production on grazing lands, and has established readily in many arid and semi‐ arid environments.In some regions, extensive areas have been cleared of native woody vegetation to enhance its establishment and productivity.Buffel grass was introduced accidentally to Australia in the 1870s in the pack saddles of camels,and remained a very minor component of rangeland vegetation for many decades.Once its grazing value was recognised ranchers encouraged its spread and, from the 1950s, numerous varieties were imported and tested successfully.Productivity was such that ranchers and rural communities derived great financial benefit from it, particularly in semi‐arid Queensland where tree clearing and sowing buffel grass were economically viable.Buffel grass has also played an important role in rehabilitation of degraded grazing lands (Payne et al.,2004).
Cenchrus ciliaris production biodiversity hybridisation
M.H.Friedel
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems,PO Box 2111,Alice Springs,Northern Territory 0871,Australia
国际会议
呼和浩特
英文
2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）