LIGULE: An evaluation of indigenous perennial grasses for dryland salinity management in south-eastern Australia. 1. A base germplasm collection

Abstract

This paper reports on the collection phase of a research program which aimed to identify Australian native grasses that may be useful for pastoral purposes and for controlling land degradation on hill-lands in the high (>500 mm) rainfall zone of south-eastern Australia. Live plants of 37 target species were collected along a number of transects, and at specific locations, in New South Wales and Victoria. The collection sites were generally along public roads, and were chosen for their vegetation diversity. Each collection site was marked on a 1: 250000 topographic map, and detailed notes were taken of the native vegetation, geology, soil types, land use, and other features. Surface (00—10 cm) soil samples were collected at most sites and analysed for phosphorus, pH _{CaCl 2} , electrical conductivity, and particle size distribution.

A total of 807 accessions were collected from 210 locations. At most collection sites, soils were acidic (median pH 5.6); soil phosphorus (Olsen) was in the low range (<8.5 mg/kg); and the target genera occurred with a low frequency (half of the sites yielded 3 accessions or less). Although genera collected in the study could be ranked on the basis of the mean pH of their collection sites, they all tolerated a considerable soil pH range (of about 2mp;mdash;5 pH units). Allowing root and shoot growth to recommence by growing collected plants for a short period in coarse sand considerably improved establishment success. Accessions collected in this study will be further evaluated.