Grass and Forage Science最新文献

{"title":"Should Asystasia gangetica No Longer Be Considered Just a Weed but Rather Also a Livestock Fodder?","authors":"Mohammad Mijanur Rahman,&nbsp;Maliha Sultana,&nbsp;Candyrine Su Chui Len","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12712","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Under oil palm, rubber, and coconut plantations, there are many plant species that are commonly considered weeds. Ruminants are often grazed on these palatable weeds as the primary source of feed on such integrated farms. <i>Asystasia gangetica</i> (L.) T. Anderson belongs to the family Acanthaceae, flowering plants predominantly found in tropical and subtropical regions. This plant is perennial and invasive and extensively grows on the ground surface of tree plantations. Redefining <i>A. gangetica</i> as a forage crop instead of a weed can support sustainable livestock feeding by utilising its nutritional value, adaptability, and cost-saving benefits, contributing to climate-smart animal production. It has been revealed that this plant has high nutritional value and biologically active compounds. In recent years, there has been growing interest in using <i>A. gangetica</i> as a low-input management plant for animal feeding purposes. Due to its weedy characteristics and limited use as an animal feed, data on growth characteristics, nutritional value, and utilisation of the species in tropical regions is insufficient. In this paper, the distribution and adaptation of <i>A. gangetica</i> are determined, and the growth characteristics, nutritive value, and usefulness assessed. This species is relatively short and spreads rapidly forming a dense sward, which is important for the prevention of soil erosion thus having potential also as a cover crop.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bacteriocins in Feed Preservation: Mechanisms and Antifungal Properties","authors":"Pamela Oliveira de Souza de Azevedo,&nbsp;Martin Gierus","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12711","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12711","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ensilage consists of the fermentation of sugars to lactic acid independent of the forage by epiphytic microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which vary in number and composition during fermentation. Silage is a means of preserving forage for extended periods of time when fresh forage is limited or seasonally unavailable, and its inadequate fermentation and poor feed management favour the proliferation of pathogens and contribute to silage spoilage. LAB is a group of microorganisms widely distributed in nature, with lactic acid as the main metabolite produced after sugar fermentation. Some LAB produce antimicrobial peptides with low toxicity and proteinaceous nature, known as bacteriocins, which have a broad spectrum of activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and viruses and can therefore be effective in silage preservation. Among those species, fungal growth leads to nutrient and dry matter losses, reduced palatability, reduced silage intake and consequently reduced animal performance. While laboratory studies provide compelling evidence of their antifungal properties, the practical application of LAB in silage systems must be evaluated with an understanding of the complexities of real-world conditions. LAB inoculants primarily enhance silage quality by driving acidification and promoting a desirable fermentation profile. While bacteriocins can provide an additional layer of microbial control, their efficacy is best realised when combined with proper management practices. This integrated approach ensures that the conditions for optimal fermentation are maintained, allowing LAB to exert their beneficial effects effectively. However, the complexities of silage fermentation necessitate a broader perspective that includes environmental management and forage quality. LAB and bacteriocins are valuable tools, but their success depends on their integration into a comprehensive silage management strategy.</p>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gfs.12711","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143446853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Balancing Competing Grassland Ecosystem Services Requires Intensive Stakeholder Involvement and Actions on Different Spatial Scales","authors":"Valentin H. Klaus,&nbsp;Juliette M. G. Bloor,&nbsp;Giulio Cozzi,&nbsp;Solen Le Clec’h,&nbsp;Sophie Peter,&nbsp;Olivier Huguenin-Elie","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12709","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Grasslands provide a wide range of different ecosystem services (ES) that are crucial for human well-being. This increases the interest in understanding the drivers of grassland ES to maintain and enhance ES supply for future generations. However, many ES do currently not have a market value and show trade-offs, that is, antagonistic relationships, that are strengthened by management intensification. For example, high forage production is key for farm income, but conflicts with many cultural ES and grassland biodiversity conservation. Balancing these competing services is thus required to ensure ES supply meeting societal demand. This poses the question of how to achieve an economically viable balance in the future. We discuss how involving stakeholders and implementing ES-enhancing actions at landscape, farm and field scales can contribute to tackling this urgent question. First, multi-stakeholder approaches are required to assess prioritisation of ES to understand societal ES demand, design multifunctional landscapes, and motivate and empower farmers to increase insufficiently-supplied ES. Second, information on how management practices change ES and their trade-offs must be available and realistically implementable. Third, different actions to enhance undersupplied ES need to be implemented across spatial scales. These actions must be taken at farm and field but also landscape-scale, which is needed for spatial targeting of different grassland types. We argue that jointly targeting all three spatial scales and intensifying efforts for stakeholder involvement and motivation is crucial for improved ES supply. Our synthesis provides a framework for balancing multiple ES and gives applied examples of how to achieve this.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143431270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Are We Up to the Best Practises in Forage and Grassland Precision Harvest? A Review","authors":"Roberta Martelli,&nbsp;Abid Ali,&nbsp;Valda Rondelli,&nbsp;Lorenzo Barbanti","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12701","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12701","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Grassland and forage crops are a domain where the application of precision agriculture techniques has been less intensive so far, compared to grain crops. This is especially evident in the case of variable yield assessment, the step that prompts the adoption of precision management techniques once farmers are faced by unexpectedly high yield spatial variation. Much work has been devoted to forage, grassland and pasture yield assessment since the early 2000's; evaluating the established achievements alongside the existing drawbacks and limitations is seen the best way to lay the foundation for future research work in this field. Self-propelled forage harvesters received most attention in the quest for on-the-go yield assessment. Both volumetric flow (feedroll displacement sensing) and mass flow (impact force and torque sensing) assessments were tested prior to be developed into commercial applications. Nonetheless, their performances vary depending on harvested product characteristics (density, moisture, texture, etc.). Integrating multiple sensor technologies has emerged as the most effective solution to reduce this variability, despite the higher costs involved. Forage handling machines (mowers conditioners, waggon trailers and balers) were also largely addressed. Balers in the static weighing mode are one of the simplest and most reliable yield assessing platforms, although at the expenses of spatial discretization and positional lag of the yield data. Remote sensing based on spectral reflectance data from the standing crop is rapidly gaining interest, especially if performed from satellites. Multiple data sources (e.g., Landsat and MODIS images), sometimes processed through machine learning or neural network techniques, have demonstrated to provide more reliable yield assessments than single data sources. A cross cutting issue in all these techniques is the assessment of forage moisture. At the ground level, near infra-red sensors are gaining popularity over capacitance sensors, thanks to their ability to determine also quality parameters of the harvested biomass. Overall, the need for calibration and maintenance of all sensor types represents a critical point that requires to be carefully evaluated before selecting an appropriate system.</p>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gfs.12701","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143404781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chemical Composition, Fermentation Parameters and Losses of Silages From Different Hybrids of Biomass Sorghum","authors":"Yara A. Silva,&nbsp;Marco A. P. Orrico Junior,&nbsp;Marciana Retore,&nbsp;Gessí Ceccon,&nbsp;Tatiane Fernandes,&nbsp;Ana C. A. Orrico","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12706","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Due to their high productivity, biomass sorghum (<i>Sorghum bicolor</i> (L.) Moench) hybrids may be promising to maximise roughage production for ruminants. However, the variation in chemical composition among hybrids may impact the nutritional value and the fermentation process of the silages produced. Thus, the present study assessed the fermentation quality and chemical composition of silages from five hybrids of biomass sorghum. The experiment adopted a 5 × 2 factorial randomised block design with five biomass sorghum hybrids (CMSXS5039, CMSXS5044, CMSXS7102, CMSXS7103 and BRS 716) sowed in two municipalities of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (Dourados and Jateí). The parameters assessed were chemical composition, in vitro dry matter digestibility, profile of short-chain organic acids, pH, ammonia, fermentation losses and aerobic stability. The silages produced from CMSXS7102, CMSXS7103 and BRS 716 in Dourados had higher fibre content and lower digestibility coefficients. In contrast, hybrids with higher non-fibrous carbohydrate content and lower lignin levels, such as CMSXS5044 and CMSXS5039, exhibited the best digestibility values. Silages produced in Jateí had higher moisture content, which resulted in increased effluent losses, particularly for the CMSXS5044 (450 kg ton⁻¹ DM) and CMSXS5039 (320 kg ton⁻¹ DM) hybrids. This higher effluent production in Jateí led to lower soluble protein (SP) and degradable protein (DP) concentrations compared to the silages from Dourados. Additionally, the higher moisture content in Jateí promoted the production of butyric acid in the silages. Silages from the CMSXS5039 hybrid (70.5 g kg⁻¹ DM) had the highest lactic acid content; however, no significant difference was observed in acetic acid levels between the treatments. Overall, all the sorghum biomass hybrids tested produced silages with good fermentative and nutritional quality, but CMSXS5039 stood out in most of the parameters evaluated.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143404785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimation of Annual Productivity of Sown Rainfed Grasslands Using Machine Learning","authors":"Tiago G. Morais,&nbsp;Marjan Jongen,&nbsp;Camila Tufik,&nbsp;Nuno R. Rodrigues,&nbsp;Ivo Gama,&nbsp;João Serrano,&nbsp;Tiago Domingos,&nbsp;Ricardo F. M. Teixeira","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12707","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Grasslands play a critical role in providing diverse ecosystem services. Sown biodiverse pastures (SBP) rich in legumes are an important agricultural innovation that increases grassland productivity and reduces the need for fertilisers. This study developed a machine learning model to obtain spatially explicit estimations of the productivity of SBP, based on field sampling data from five Portuguese farms during four production years (2018–2021) and under two fertilisation regimes (conventional and variable rate). Weather data (such as temperature, precipitation and radiation), soil properties (including sand, silt, clay and pH), terrain characteristics (including elevation, slope, aspect, hillshade and topographic position index), and management data (including fertiliser application) were used as predictors. A variance inflation factor (VIF) approach was used to measure multicollinearity between input variables, leading to only 11 of the 53 input variables being used. Artificial neural network (ANN) methods were used to estimate pasture productivity, and hyper-parameterization optimization was performed to fine-tune the model. Plots under variable rate fertilisation were significantly improved by up to 20 kg P ha⁻¹ applied in the same year. Plots under conventional fertilisation benefitted the most from fertilisation in past years. The model demonstrated good generalisation, with similar estimation errors for both the training and test sets: for an average yield of 6096 kg ha⁻¹ in the sample, the root mean squared errors (RMSE) for the training and test sets were respectively 882 and 1125 kg ha⁻¹. These results indicate that the model did not overfit the training data and can be used to estimate SBP productivity maps in the sampled farms. However, further studies are required to asses if the obtained model can be applied to new unseen data.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143404761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Effect of Seeding Rate and Perennial Ryegrass Ploidy on Sward Botanical Composition and Herbage Production in Binary Mixtures Under Sheep Grazing","authors":"L. McGrane,&nbsp;T. M. Boland,&nbsp;N. McHugh,&nbsp;P. Creighton","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12703","url":null,"abstract":"<p>There are numerous benefits to the inclusion of clover and non-leguminous forb species in grassland swards for pasture-based sheep production, however there is a notable lack of management advice available for the use of these diverse swards, representing a significant barrier to on farm uptake. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of seeding rate (SR) and perennial ryegrass ploidy on sward botanical composition, herbage production and herbage quality of binary sward mixtures under sheep grazing. The swards investigated were perennial ryegrass (<i>Lolium perenne</i> L.) plus white clover (<i>Trifolium repens</i> L.), perennial ryegrass plus red clover (<i>Trifolium pratense</i> L.), perennial ryegrass plus plantain (<i>Plantago lanceolata</i> L.) and perennial ryegrass plus chicory (<i>Cichorium intybus</i> L.). A set total SR of 25 kg ha⁻¹ was used in all treatments, within which clover seed was included at rates of 2.5, 5.0 or 7.5 kg clover ha⁻¹, and forb seed was included at rates of 2.0, 3.5 or 5.0 kg forb ha⁻¹ for the Low SR, Med SR and High SR treatments, respectively. The binary swards were sown with a diploid or tetraploid perennial ryegrass. Results indicate that SR had a significant effect on sward botanical composition and that within the inclusion rates used in this study, SR treatments of 2.5, 3.5, 5.0 and 7.5 kg ha⁻¹, were sufficient for the establishment of white clover, chicory, red clover and plantain, respectively, in a binary sward mixture. The tetraploid swards expressed a lower perennial ryegrass tiller density relative to diploid swards, which was beneficial for the establishment of white clover and plantain.</p>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gfs.12703","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143404692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Grasses of Saudi Arabia: A Review","authors":"Osama H. Sayed,&nbsp;Yahya S. Masrahi","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12705","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Grasses are found in all Saudi Arabia habitats. Their success pertains to diverse growth habits, specific morpho-anatomical features and distinctive photosynthetic attributes. Their composite evolution involved Early-Cenozoic appearance in open-habitats, Mid-Cenozoic dominance in temperate regions and Late-Cenozoic spread into tropics. This process is reflected in composite grassland development with Paleogene appearance of open-habitat grasslands, Mid-Neogene expansion of temperate grasslands and Late-Neogene spread of tropical savannas. Holocene grass domestication involved genetic changes that induced traits pivotal for grass spread into new habitats. Palaeoanthropological evidence also revealed a crucial interplay between grass domestication and human agrarian history. Saudi Arabia diverse topography, vast latitudinal span, and steep altitudinal gradient encourage broad grass diversity distributed over saline saltmarshes, dry sand dunes, dry desert plains, arid desert pavements, cool highlands and cold mountains. This review briefly discusses grass origin, evolution, domestication and photosynthesis. It concisely describes geodiversity and climate of Saudi Arabia and presents comprehensive analysis of its grass origin, domestication, taxonomy, diversity, tolerance and photosynthesis. Grass distribution is also extensively discussed in relation to climatic gradients, edaphic properties, grass chorology and photosynthetic attributes crucial for species acclimation potential.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143404410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sward Species Diversity Impacts on Pasture Productivity and Botanical Composition Under Grazing Systems","authors":"A. Jezequel,&nbsp;L. Delaby,&nbsp;J. A. Finn,&nbsp;Z. C. McKay,&nbsp;B. Horan","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12700","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12700","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This research investigated the effect of intensive grazing on the annual and seasonal yield and botanical composition of three sward types: (1) <i>Lolium perenne</i> monoculture sward receiving 250 kg nitrogen (N) ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ (PRG 250 N); (2) <i>\u0000 Lolium perenne—Trifolium repens\u0000 </i> sward receiving 125 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ (PRGWC 125 N) and (3) a multispecies sward comprising eight species receiving 125 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ (MSS 125 N). Each sward type had its own farmlet of 20 paddocks and comprising 47 cows on 18.7 ha with each group of cows remaining on the same farmlet for the 2-year study. Total yield (13,015 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ of dry matter forage) did not differ among the three sward types, despite a substantial difference in chemical N fertiliser between PRG 250 N and both PRGWC 125 N and MSS 125 N. Average botanical composition of PRG 250 N comprised 994 g kg⁻¹ grasses and 6 g kg⁻¹ weeds. The PRGWC 125 N sward had 864, 134 and 2 g kg⁻¹ of grasses, white clover and weeds, respectively, while the MSS 125 N had 671, 144, 180 and 5 g kg⁻¹ of grasses, legumes, forbs and weeds, respectively. Despite considerable variation in the component species, nutritive values were relatively unaffected by sward type. Lower organic matter digestibility was observed on MSS 125 N compared to PRG 250 N and PRGWC 125 N (788, 801 and 799 g kg⁻¹, respectively). These results suggest that increasing sward diversity and reducing the use of chemical N fertiliser can maintain grass yield and nutritive value.</p>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"79 4","pages":"651-665"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gfs.12700","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143187223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Survival of 13 Forage Legumes in Contrasting Environments of Central Otago, New Zealand","authors":"Lucy E. Bell,&nbsp;Jim L. Moir,&nbsp;Alistair D. Black","doi":"10.1111/gfs.12702","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12702","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The lack of suitable perennial and annual forage legumes strongly constrains the productivity and sustainability of upland grasslands in New Zealand. Legumes support sustainable grassland production through nitrogen fixation and increased yields. However, traditional legume species such as white clover (<i>Trifolium repens</i> L.) struggle to persist within New Zealand's upland climatic and edaphic conditions characterised by acid, low fertility soils and short growing seasons. To address this challenge, we assessed the survival of 13 forage legume species over 2 years at three field sites across Central Otago, capturing the districts varied precipitation and temperature profiles. Legume survival rates, biomass and weather data were measured. Notably, lotus (<i>Lotus pedunculatus</i> Cav.) exhibited 100% survival over the 2 years on high altitude acidic, low fertility soils, whereas other perennial legume species showed limited persistence (0%–55% survival) and low biomass production. Crimson clover (<i>Trifolium incarnatum</i> L.) had the greatest Year 1 establishment and biomass of annual legumes species at low and medium rainfall sites. Moreover, strong Year 1 seed set and subsequent regeneration in Year 2 were observed for crimson clover, striated clover (<i>Trifolium striatum</i> L.), and subterranean clover (<i>Trifolium subterraneum</i> L.) (cvs. Denmark and Narrikup). These findings underscore the potential of these annual legume species in dryland environments due to their regeneration capacity before summer drought onset. Climate emerged as a pivotal determinant influencing the viability of less resilient species across all trial locations. Lotus and crimson clover are alternative legume species with the potential to enhance sustainable grassland productivity in New Zealand's upland farming systems.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12767,"journal":{"name":"Grass and Forage Science","volume":"79 4","pages":"591-603"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143187086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}