Native Plants Journal - Article
Performance of American native grass cultivars in the Canadian prairie provinces
Abstract:
The cultivation of native grass cultivars developed for Montana and North Dakota has been proposed in the prairie region of western Canada. Cultivars of 6 warm-season and 4 cool-season grass species that had been selected for North Dakota or Montana were evaluated at a range of sites in western Canada for stand establishment, persistence, aboveground biomass, seed yield, and competitive ability. Warm-season grass cultivars were not adapted to sites above 51 øtitude. At locations below this latitude, cool-season grasses produced more biomass than warm-season grasses. The occurrence of these warm-season grasses in native rangeland of this region is frequent but often restricted by landscape position or soil texture. Thus, they will likely have a minor role in revegetation seedings. Mammoth wildrye exhibited the highest biomass production on the highest productivity sites. All native cool-season grass cultivars evaluated were adapted to the prairie region of western Canada.
Issue & Pages:
Spring 2002 Pages: 24-33
Article Download:
3-1NPJ24-33.PDF
(PDF document)
Authors:
- Paul G Jefferson
- W Paul McCaughey
- Ken May
- Jay Woosaree
- Linden MacFarlane
- Scott MB Wright
Keywords:
biomass, seed yield, competition, C4 grasses, C3 grasses, Elymus lanceolatus, Leymus racemosus, Bouteloua curtipendula, Pascopyrum smithii, Nassella viridula, Andropogon gerardii, Calamovilfa longifolia, Panicum virgatum, Sorghastrum nutans, Schizachyrium scoparium, Poaceae
