Occurrence and distribution of native and introduced C4 grasses in Tasmania

Abstract

Of the 137 species of grass considered native to Tasmania, only eight use the C₄ photosynthetic pathway. There are also approximately 137 grass species considered as introduced to Tasmania and 21% of these are C₄. In total, there are 41 species from 20 genera of C₄ grass recorded from Tasmania. Many of the introduced C₄ species have a very limited distribution, however, and are generally confined to urban areas and along roadsides. Overall, Tasmania has fewer C₄ grasses than would be expected from climate alone and few of the C₄ grass species are widely distributed or abundant. However, the proportion of grasses recorded from Tasmania that use the C₄ pathway has been increasing for the past century and is still increasing. General distribution and habitat notes are provided for all C₄ grasses known to be native or naturalised in Tasmania.