While biofuels have been touted as a benefit for growers—with the ability to be planted on marginal lands, improved wildlife habitat, sustain soils, and reduce runoff—there remains general summary of how beneficial they really are. This paper aims review environmental effects, feasibility, economic aspects using native perennial grasses in North America opposed traditional annual crops. The Sco...

East Kangaroo Island is a low, mostly calcarenite-covered granitic island in the Furneaux Group which was observed in 1828 to have been fertile and well-wooded by Allocasuarina verticillata. Over 160 years of grazing and a succession of drought years have contributed to the decline of the native vegetation in biomass, ground cover and native species diversity. In the summer 0[1999/2000, bare gr...

Drought stress encumbers the growth of turfgrass principally by disrupting the plant-water relations and physiological functions. The present study was carried out to appraise the role of silicon (Si) in improving the drought tolerance in Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Drought stress and four levels (0, 200, 400, and 800 mg L(-1)) of Si (Na2SiO3·9H2O) were imposed after 2 months old pla...

It is well-documented that endophytes can enhance the resistance of agronomical grasses, such as tall fescue and perennial ryegrass to herbivory. For native grasses, however, the related reports are limited, and the conclusions are variable. Achnatherum sibiricum is a grass native to the Inner Mongolian steppe. This grass is highly infected by endophytes but does not produce detectable endophyt...

With an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, plants are likely to reach their thermal limits and show slower growth or increased mortality. We investigated differences amongst coastal native and invasive shrubs and grasses to investigate if particular species might be more at risk in the future. Using an ecologically relevant experimental set of heat waves over a mont...

Drought tolerant plant genotypes are able to maintain stability and integrity of cellular membranes in unfavorable conditions, and to regenerate damaged membranes after stress cessation. The profiling of cellular glycerolipids during drought stress performed on model species such as Arabidopsis thaliana does not fully cover the picture of lipidome in monocots, including grasses. Herein, two clo...