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Native Grass Species for Forage and Turf

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North American Crop Wild Relatives, Volume 2

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Abstract

North America has an abundance of native grass species including both cool-season and warm-season grasses. These grasses serve a multitude of purposes including use as forage, turf, erosion control, riparian buffer, wildlife habitat, ornamental, and biofuel. Although their importance in agriculture has been somewhat overshadowed by the use of non-native grasses in both forage and turf breeding programs, their value has not been overlooked. As the demand and interest in native grasses have risen in recent decades, germplasm exploration and collection of native grasses have likewise increased. The need to conserve North American native germplasm has become more and more evident as modern agricultural practices, urbanization, and changing climates threaten native populations and highlight the need for preserving high-quality, representative germplasm. Current plant genetic resources, both in situ and ex situ, provide valuable plant germplasm to researchers and plant breeders, but there is a need to better represent the genetic diversity and fill genetic gaps of these important species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit, Griffin, GA, USA

    Melanie L. Harrison

  2. USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Western Regional Plant Introduction Station, Pullman, WA, USA

    Vicki L. Bradley

  3. USDA, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, Madison, WI, USA

    Michael D. Casler

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  1. Melanie L. Harrison
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  2. Vicki L. Bradley
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  3. Michael D. Casler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melanie L. Harrison .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. USDA, Agricultural Research Service Center for Agricultural Resources, Research, National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Stephanie L. Greene

  2. USDA, Agricultural Research Service Beltsville Agricultural Research, Center, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, USA

    Karen A. Williams

  3. USDA, Agricultural Research Service Center for Agricultural Resources, Research, National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Colin K. Khoury

  4. Tropical Plant and Soil Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Michael B. Kantar

  5. Department of Agronomy/North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Laura F. Marek

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Harrison, M.L., Bradley, V.L., Casler, M.D. (2019). Native Grass Species for Forage and Turf. In: Greene, S., Williams, K., Khoury, C., Kantar, M., Marek, L. (eds) North American Crop Wild Relatives, Volume 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97121-6_17

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