Studies in the ecology of the Riverine plain. III. Phenology of a Danthonia caespitosa Gaudich. Grassland

Abstract

The Danthonia caespitosa grassland of the Riverine Plain is a degraded semi-arid community with many annual and perennial grasses and herbs. Data are presented to show the leafing and flowering phenology of these species during the 5 year period 1949-1953. There were two groups of species distinguishable on flowering behaviour. One group composed of exotics and a few- indigenes can flower only in spring, and the other, composed exclusively of indigenes, flowers in both spring and autumn. Winter rains are more reliable than summer rains, so that flowering in spring is more frequent than flowering in the autumn. The effects of seasonal drought, grazing, and sod fertility are discussed, in relation both to phenological observations and to the development of the degraded grassland from the climax community of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (saltbush).