Vegetative Attributes, Taxonomy, and Character Syndromes in Grasses Around a Sheep Camp on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales

Abstract

Thirty common grasses from unfertilised sheep pastures of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales were grouped according to their distribution about a sheep camp. The frequency and relative frequency of 16 of these grasses related to their distribution. It is argued that the distribution patterns detected can be attributed to stocking by sheep. The relationship between distribution, origin of the species, life cycle, life form and growing season were examined, and all were found to show statistically significant relationships. When the species were clustered using vegetative attributes which were significantly related to distribution, groups were formed which related more to taxonomy at tribal level than to distribution. Contingency analysis, relating the presence of the same attributes to species groups based on distribution pattern, showed that only photosynthetic mechanism and origin were related to that pattern, whereas all attributes, except origin, were related to tribe. Although individual characters are related to distribution and hence presumably to stocking, there is no single syndrome of characters related to distribution.