Theme 1: Grassland Ecology
Description
Indigenous perennial grasses are widely distributed in the Arabian Peninsula. Their survival under limited rainfall and grazing suggests a potential role as grassland species and for rehabilitation of degraded rangelands. Forage productivity and water-use efficiency (WUE) was determined over 2 years for four indigenous grasses: buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.), dakhna (Coelachyrum piercei Benth.), da’ay (Lasiurus scindicus Henr.) and tuman (Panicum turgidum Forssk.) together with one exotic species, rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) in the central region of the United Arab Emirates. Three irrigation treatments were used: R1 (1858–6758 m3 ha-1 year-1, R2 (929–3379 m3 ha-1 year-1) and R3 (464–1689 m3 ha-1 year-1). Buffel grass had the highest dry matter (DM) yield under all irrigation treatments. The average DM yield of buffel grass was14.6 and 15.1 t ha-1 in the 2 years which was significantly higher than that for the other grasses with dakhna having the lowest DM yields. The WUE of 0.7 and 0.8 kg DM m3 in the 2 years for buffel grass was significantly greater than for the other grasses. Buffel grass showed the largest increase in WUE in both years when the irrigation was reduced from treatment R1 to R3. The results suggest that the desert grasses of the Arabian Peninsula, such as buffel grass, could be useful grass species in reducing the use of scarce irrigation water provided that seed production can be increased.
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Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Potential of Indigenous Desert Grasses for Forage Production in a Water-Scarce Region
Indigenous perennial grasses are widely distributed in the Arabian Peninsula. Their survival under limited rainfall and grazing suggests a potential role as grassland species and for rehabilitation of degraded rangelands. Forage productivity and water-use efficiency (WUE) was determined over 2 years for four indigenous grasses: buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.), dakhna (Coelachyrum piercei Benth.), da’ay (Lasiurus scindicus Henr.) and tuman (Panicum turgidum Forssk.) together with one exotic species, rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) in the central region of the United Arab Emirates. Three irrigation treatments were used: R1 (1858–6758 m3 ha-1 year-1, R2 (929–3379 m3 ha-1 year-1) and R3 (464–1689 m3 ha-1 year-1). Buffel grass had the highest dry matter (DM) yield under all irrigation treatments. The average DM yield of buffel grass was14.6 and 15.1 t ha-1 in the 2 years which was significantly higher than that for the other grasses with dakhna having the lowest DM yields. The WUE of 0.7 and 0.8 kg DM m3 in the 2 years for buffel grass was significantly greater than for the other grasses. Buffel grass showed the largest increase in WUE in both years when the irrigation was reduced from treatment R1 to R3. The results suggest that the desert grasses of the Arabian Peninsula, such as buffel grass, could be useful grass species in reducing the use of scarce irrigation water provided that seed production can be increased.
