Offered Papers Theme B: Grassland and the Environment

Description

Native prairie of the Upper Midwest, which was dominated by warm-season (C4) grasses, now exists as relatively small relict and restored patches (Curtis 1959). Re-introduction of natives into grazed agroecosystems would promote genetic, species, and landscape diversity. Extensive re-introduction of C4 grasses will require a shift away from the paradigm of maximizing production because C4 grasses have higher C:N ratios than C3 grasses rendering them inferior forage species. Nonetheless, there is great interest amongst the grazing community of the Upper Midwest in establishing native grasses as a means of improving wildlife habitat and increasing belowground carbon storage. That said, given the different phenologies of these 2 functional groups (Figure 1), a relatively even distribution of C3 and C4 species in grazed pastures theoretically could provide a more even distribution of forage production.

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Native Grasses Seeded Into a Cool-Season Pasture Encouraged by Low Resource Availability

Native prairie of the Upper Midwest, which was dominated by warm-season (C4) grasses, now exists as relatively small relict and restored patches (Curtis 1959). Re-introduction of natives into grazed agroecosystems would promote genetic, species, and landscape diversity. Extensive re-introduction of C4 grasses will require a shift away from the paradigm of maximizing production because C4 grasses have higher C:N ratios than C3 grasses rendering them inferior forage species. Nonetheless, there is great interest amongst the grazing community of the Upper Midwest in establishing native grasses as a means of improving wildlife habitat and increasing belowground carbon storage. That said, given the different phenologies of these 2 functional groups (Figure 1), a relatively even distribution of C3 and C4 species in grazed pastures theoretically could provide a more even distribution of forage production.