Abstract
The three cool-season perennial forage grasses cocksfoot/orchardgrass, Dactylis glomerata L., tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea Schreb. syn. Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh., and phalaris/harding grass, Phalaris aquatica L., are of major economic and ecological importance in regions with summer-dry environments. This review considers the constraints that these species are likely to experience under current and predicted increase of droughts due to climate change scenarios in south-eastern Australia, the southern Great Plains of USA and the Western Mediterranean Basin. The review identifies research required to maximise the development and use of C3 cool-season grasses with enhanced resilience to drought while considering the concern of some regulators that these grasses may be potential weeds. The state of knowledge of factors influencing plant drought survival and therefore recovery after stress and long-term persistence is discussed in the light of adaptive strategies. The major research needs identified to enhance traits conferring drought survival include (1) increasing the depth and density of grass root systems to strengthen dehydration avoidance; (2) exploring the biochemical, molecular and hydraulic bases of dehydration tolerance and improving techniques to measure this trait; (3) breaking the trade-off between summer dormancy and forage yield potential and improving understanding of environmental, biochemical and genetic controls over summer dormancy; (4) identifying non-toxic endophyte strains compatible with summer-dormant cultivars of tall fescue to enhance drought survival; and (5) enhancing seed production capability of new cultivars as well as the development of agronomic management packages for promoting stable mixtures combining perennial grasses and legumes. The weed potential of newly introduced summer-dormant cultivars is concluded to be minor. The research directions proposed here should improve pasture grass resilience and forage crop sustainability in Mediterranean and temperate summer-dry environments under the future drier and warmer conditions associated with climate change.
Highlights
1.1 Projected climates and impact on pastures and grasslands 1.1.1 The case of southern Australia 1.1.2 The case of the Mediterranean Basin 1.1.3 The case of the Southern Great Plains of the USA 1.2 The role of C3 versus C4 perennial forage grasses 2
Grasslands cover 70 % of the world’s agricultural surface and support crop-livestock farming systems that contribute to the livelihoods of more than 800 million people worldwide (2013)
Despite the fertilisation effects of increased atmospheric CO2, extreme events including severe heat waves and droughts may become more frequent in a changing climate compounding the level of stress on grassland plants (Schar and Jendritzky 2004; Brookshire and Weaver 2015). To give these predictions a regional perspective, the projected changes in climate for southern Australia, the Southern Great Plains of the USA and southern Europe will be proposed as examples of the types of challenges that grasslands are predicted to experience in the near future
Summary
1.1 Projected climates and impact on pastures and grasslands 1.1.1 The case of southern Australia 1.1.2 The case of the Mediterranean Basin 1.1.3 The case of the Southern Great Plains of the USA 1.2 The role of C3 versus C4 perennial forage grasses 2. Strengthening drought survival strategies of perennial grasses 2.1 Drought escape—the importance of reliable seed production 2.2 Dehydration avoidance/delay and rooting system improvement
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