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2015

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Articles 151 - 180 of 220

Full-Text Articles in Plant Biology

Toxicity Of Leaf Extract Of Acer Spp. On Equine Erythrocytes, Bailey Katherine Dye Jan 2015

Toxicity Of Leaf Extract Of Acer Spp. On Equine Erythrocytes, Bailey Katherine Dye

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Red maple toxicosis is a phenomenon that occurs in equines after the consumption of dried or wilted red maple (Acer rubrum L.) leaves. Within the erythrocytes, it causes hemolysis, methemoglobinemia, and Heinz body development. The toxic agent of red maple leaves has not yet been identified; however, the development of hemolytic anemia and methemoglobinemia in equines after ingestion of the leaves, suggests that the toxin is acting as a strong oxidant. Some studies have noted that not only are wilted red maples leaves toxic to equines, but that wilted leaves of other maple species may also be toxic. Therefore, …


Grassland Resources And Protections In The Yellow River Source Zone On The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xilai Li, Gary J. Brierley, Youming Qiao, George L. W. Perry, Jay King Gao Jan 2015

Grassland Resources And Protections In The Yellow River Source Zone On The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xilai Li, Gary J. Brierley, Youming Qiao, George L. W. Perry, Jay King Gao

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This paper summarises resources and protections of the Yellow River Source Zone on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A concerted effort has been made to address concerns for overgrazing on the alpine steppe and alpine meadow landscapes in the source zone of the Yellow River. An assessment of the impacts of overgrazing includes consideration of the role of small mammals (on the one hand they are considered as a critical ecosystem engineer, on the other they are perceived as a major threatening pest). Analyzed in this paper are management options in the restoration of degraded grasslands.


Importance Of Livestock Production From Grasslands For National And Local Food And Nutritional Security In Developing Countries, Iain A. Wright Jan 2015

Importance Of Livestock Production From Grasslands For National And Local Food And Nutritional Security In Developing Countries, Iain A. Wright

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grazing lands cover more than a quarter of the world’s land surface, often on land that is unsuitable for other forms of use. Despite the perception that productivity is inherently low, the contribution of grasslands in food security in developing countries is significant. However the challenges of spatial and temporal variability of primary productivity need to be managed and mobility of livestock is key to this. Appropriate land management and governance arrangements are essential for facilitating this mobility and for creating the circumstances in which technical options for reducing variability and risk in livestock keeping can be deployed and to …


Fall Seed Guide 2015, Teshome Regassa, P. Stephen Baenziger, Stephen N. Wegulo, Greg Kruger, Dipak K. Santra Jan 2015

Fall Seed Guide 2015, Teshome Regassa, P. Stephen Baenziger, Stephen N. Wegulo, Greg Kruger, Dipak K. Santra

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Crops included in this guide are winter wheat, winter barley, and triticale. You may receive this guide in the mail or through the University of Nebraska Extension network. The data and other information this guide is can be found at our web site: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/varietytest/ and http://www.unl.edu/ncia. Additional information is available at the wheat variety virtual tour web site http://cropwatch.unl.edu/wheat/virtual or the winter wheat variety selection tool page http:// citnews.unl.edu/winter_wheat_tool/index.shtml. The last season was hard on Nebraska winter wheat. Emergence was poor in the west due to dry conditions. On the other hand, some plots in the east had to be …


Model And Sensor-Based Recommendation Approaches For In-Season Nitrogen Management In Corn, L. J. Thompson, R. B. Ferguson, N. Kitchen, D. W. Frazen, M. Mamo, H. Yang, J. S. Schepers Jan 2015

Model And Sensor-Based Recommendation Approaches For In-Season Nitrogen Management In Corn, L. J. Thompson, R. B. Ferguson, N. Kitchen, D. W. Frazen, M. Mamo, H. Yang, J. S. Schepers

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Nitrogen management for corn (Zea mays L.) may be improved by applying a portion of N in-season. This investigation was conducted to evaluate crop modeling (Maize-N) and active crop canopy sensing approaches for recommending in-season N fertilizer rates. These approaches were evaluated during 2012–2013 on 11 field sites, in Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Nitrogen management also included a no-N treatment (check) and a non-limiting N reference (all at planting). Nitrogen management treatments were assessed for two hybrids and at low and high seeding rates, arranged in a randomized complete block design. In 9 of 11 site-years, the sensor-based …


Native Orchids In Winter?, W. John Hayden Jan 2015

Native Orchids In Winter?, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

A very special place in Southwest Virginia will soon expand its borders, thanks in part to the annual fundraising appeal by the Virginia Native Plant Society. The Cedars Natural Area Preserve supports ex ceptional natural communities including rocky, dry limestone glades and woodlands located across nearly 20 square miles in Lee County near the Powell River. The karst landscape, where thin soils develop over easily dissolved limestone bedrock, creates terrain that tends to be rolling, rocky, rugged, and full of sinkholes, caves, and sinking streams. The preserve is a haven for rare plants that have adapted to the mostly thin, …


Physiological Variation Of Garry Oak (Quercus Garryana) Seedlings To Drought Stress, Matthew A. Merz Jan 2015

Physiological Variation Of Garry Oak (Quercus Garryana) Seedlings To Drought Stress, Matthew A. Merz

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine physiological differences in drought response among Garry oak (Quercus garryana Douglas ex Hook. [Fagaceae]) seedlings that grow in distinct populations in Washington state, in order to aid in restoration efforts by informing growers of the potential differences between the acorn collection sites. Acorns from six Washington populations east of the Cascades, as well as one population from Whidbey Island, were collected and grown in containers under controlled conditions. The plants were assessed with and without moderate and severe drought stress induced by withholding water. The most extreme differences in photosynthetic characteristics …


United In Diversity: Mechanosensitive Ion Channels In Plants, Eric S. Hamilton, Angela M. Schlegel, Elizabeth S. Haswell Jan 2015

United In Diversity: Mechanosensitive Ion Channels In Plants, Eric S. Hamilton, Angela M. Schlegel, Elizabeth S. Haswell

Biology Faculty Research

Mechanosensitive (MS) ion channels are a common mechanism for perceiving and responding to mechanical force. This class of mechanoreceptors is capable of transducing membrane tension directly into ion flux. In plant systems, MSion channels have been proposed to play a wide array of roles, from the perception of touch and gravity to the osmotic homeostasis of intracellular organelles. Three families of plant MS ion channels have been identified: the MscS-like (MSL), Mid1-complementing activity (MCA), and two-pore potassium (TPK) families. Channels from these families vary widely in structure and function, localize to multiple cellular compartments, and conduct chloride, calcium, and/or potassium …


Front Matter [Preface And List Of Contributors], National Organizing Committee, International Grassland Congress Jan 2015

Front Matter [Preface And List Of Contributors], National Organizing Committee, International Grassland Congress

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.


Promising Forage Options To Enhance Livestock Production In Mediterranean Climate Agricultural Systems, Serkan Ates, Hayley C. Norman, Hichem Ben Salem, Bradley Nutt, Harun Cicek Jan 2015

Promising Forage Options To Enhance Livestock Production In Mediterranean Climate Agricultural Systems, Serkan Ates, Hayley C. Norman, Hichem Ben Salem, Bradley Nutt, Harun Cicek

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The increasing demand for food, fibre and animal products inevitably requires intensifying agricultural production worldwide. This can present a number of environmental and farming systems challenges in Mediterranean climate areas of the world. Developments of novel strategies, employing ecologically sound intensification practices, are crucial to enhance production in the Mediterranean agropastoral production systems. In this paper, we have discussed forage based systems that improve productivity, profitability, environmental quality and resilience of the farming systems. Key opportunities include better use and integration of diverse genetic resources, new agronomic techniques and the utilization of perennial forage plants that are adapted to land …


New Methodologies For Grasslands Monitoring, Katarzyna Dabrowska-Zielinska, Piotr Goliński, Marit Jorgensen, Jørgen Mølmann, Gregory Taff, Monika Tomaszewska, Barbara Golińska, Maria Budzynska, Martyna Gatkowska Jan 2015

New Methodologies For Grasslands Monitoring, Katarzyna Dabrowska-Zielinska, Piotr Goliński, Marit Jorgensen, Jørgen Mølmann, Gregory Taff, Monika Tomaszewska, Barbara Golińska, Maria Budzynska, Martyna Gatkowska

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Monitoring grassland areas to assess changes in their condition over time has been the subject of a lot of research at different scales. Initially the techniques focused on field-based measurements, and modelling. However, several obtained data were site specific. Based on the increase in availability of remote sensing data and products, there is an expectation that remote sensing can provide rapid and definite answers to the challenges of detecting and monitoring grassland conditions and associated changes in productivity. At the time of European Copernicus Programme, the new possibilities of satellite data from the group of Sentinel satellites give the new …


Grazing Management Options For Maintaining Optimum Pasture Composition And Utilization, Glen E. Aiken Jan 2015

Grazing Management Options For Maintaining Optimum Pasture Composition And Utilization, Glen E. Aiken

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Global demand for meat and dairy products will continue to increase over the 21st century, however, the global forage-based livestock industry will be challenged in meeting production goals with minimal impact of the environment. Sustainable production of grazing livestock will depend on the use of carefully planned grazing management strategies. Development of a grazing management plan involves making two decisions: determining the livestock density at which pastures are stocked and settling on the method used to graze the pastures. Stocking rate indirectly affects output per animal and per hectare through its direct effect on forage mass and pasture composition. A …


Enhancing Grassland Productivity Through Disease Management Of Grass And Forage Species, Tingyu Duan, Chunjie Li, Yanzhong Li, Binhua Yu, Zhibiao Nan Jan 2015

Enhancing Grassland Productivity Through Disease Management Of Grass And Forage Species, Tingyu Duan, Chunjie Li, Yanzhong Li, Binhua Yu, Zhibiao Nan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The total area of grassland in China is about 400 million hectares, accounting for 41.7% of the country’s land area, which plays important role in ecological construction and food security assurance of the national. However, diseases of grass and forage limited the development of the pastoral agriculture. There are more than1500 new diseases were reported in the past 16 years with more and more new diseases were discovered. The damage to grassland is becoming more severe with the known diseases prevalent areas expanding.


Management Of Pasture Soils: Biochar Stability, Carbon Storage Potential And Its Effect On Production And Quality, Bhupinder Pal Singh, Yunying Fang, Mark Boersma, Damian Collins, Lukas Van Zwieten, Lynne M. Macdonald Jan 2015

Management Of Pasture Soils: Biochar Stability, Carbon Storage Potential And Its Effect On Production And Quality, Bhupinder Pal Singh, Yunying Fang, Mark Boersma, Damian Collins, Lukas Van Zwieten, Lynne M. Macdonald

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The use of biochar has been proposed as a stable carbon (C) amendment with long-term carbon (C) storage potential in agricultural soils while improving primary productivity. However, this concept has not been widely tested in contrasting soils under temperate pasture systems. To address this knowledge gap, a 13C-labelled biochar, produced from Eucalyptus saligna biomass by slow pyrolysis (450° C; d13C -36.7‰) was surface (0"10 cm) applied in C3 dominated, annual temperate pasture systems across Arenosol, Cambisol and Ferralsol. The results show that only 2% of the applied biochar-C was mineralised in a relatively clay- and C-poor …


Grassland Renovation And Consequences For Nutrient Management, Johannes Isselstein, Manfred Kayser Jan 2015

Grassland Renovation And Consequences For Nutrient Management, Johannes Isselstein, Manfred Kayser

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Sward degradation is a serious threat to the functioning of grassland and the provision of ecosystem services. Renovation measures are frequently applied in order to restore degraded swards. However, the success is highly variable and substantial tradeoffs are often found following renovation such as among agronomic and environmental services. Starting from a general classification of renovation measures the paper investigates the processes induced by renovation that lead to a change of the vegetation and that affect carbon and nitrogen fluxes. These processes are strongly interrelated and dependent on site, climate and management condition as well as on the time scale. …


Roles And Programming Of Arabidopsis Argonaute Proteins During Turnip Mosaic Virus Infection, Hernan Garcia-Ruiz, Alberto Carbonell, J. Steen Hoyer, Noah Fahlgren, Kerrigan B. Gilbert, Atsushi Takeda, Annalisa Giampetruzzi, Mayra T. Garcia Ruiz, Michaela G. Mcginn, Nicholas Lowery, Maria T. Martinez Baladejo, James C. Carrington Jan 2015

Roles And Programming Of Arabidopsis Argonaute Proteins During Turnip Mosaic Virus Infection, Hernan Garcia-Ruiz, Alberto Carbonell, J. Steen Hoyer, Noah Fahlgren, Kerrigan B. Gilbert, Atsushi Takeda, Annalisa Giampetruzzi, Mayra T. Garcia Ruiz, Michaela G. Mcginn, Nicholas Lowery, Maria T. Martinez Baladejo, James C. Carrington

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

In eukaryotes, ARGONAUTE proteins (AGOs) associate with microRNAs (miRNAs), short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and other classes of small RNAs to regulate target RNA or target loci. Viral infection in plants induces a potent and highly specific antiviral RNA silencing response characterized by the formation of virus-derived siRNAs. Arabidopsis thaliana has ten AGO genes of which AGO1, AGO2, and AGO7 have been shown to play roles in antiviral defense. A genetic analysis was used to identify and characterize the roles of AGO proteins in antiviral defense against Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) in Arabidopsis. AGO1, AGO2 and AGO10 promoted anti-TuMV defense …


Calibration And Validation Of The Hybrid-Maize Crop Model For Regional Analysis And Application Over The U.S. Corn Belt, Xing Liu, Jeff Andresen, Haishun Yang, Dev Niyogi Jan 2015

Calibration And Validation Of The Hybrid-Maize Crop Model For Regional Analysis And Application Over The U.S. Corn Belt, Xing Liu, Jeff Andresen, Haishun Yang, Dev Niyogi

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Detailed parameter sensitivity, model validation, and regional calibration of the Hybrid-Maize crop model were undertaken for the purpose of regional agroclimatic assessments. The model was run at both field scale and county scale. The county-scale study was based on 30-yr daily weather data and corn yield data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service survey for 24 locations across the Corn Belt of the United States. The field-scale study was based on AmeriFlux sites at Bondville, Illinois, andMead, Nebraska. By using the one-at-a-time and interaction-explicit factorial design approaches for sensitivity analysis, the study found that the five most sensitive parameters of …


Do Epidermal Cell Types Have An Effect Upon Ultraviolet Patterns On Flower Petals?, Margaux Flaherty Jan 2015

Do Epidermal Cell Types Have An Effect Upon Ultraviolet Patterns On Flower Petals?, Margaux Flaherty

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Flower petal epidermal cell shape and ultraviolet patterns called nectar guides may have a considerable impact on pollinator behavior and consequently, the reproductive success of the floral species. Similarly, flower petal epidermal cell shape may have an effect on floral color; however, these effects have only been measured in the visible light range (Whitney et al., 2009). This study attempts to determine if epidermal cell shape has an effect upon ultraviolet floral patterns. Experimental results show that all of the floral species studied seem to have a conical epidermal cell shape, but varying levels of ultraviolet reflectance and absorbance; …


Vegetation-Based Metrics Of Biotic Integrity For Assessing The Ecological Condition Of Wetlands Of Kentucky, Tanner Matthew Morris Jan 2015

Vegetation-Based Metrics Of Biotic Integrity For Assessing The Ecological Condition Of Wetlands Of Kentucky, Tanner Matthew Morris

Online Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two centuries, wetland acreage across the world has significantly declined due to human disturbances. It has been estimated that Kentucky has lost over 80% of its wetland area. In response to these losses occurring across the United States, the Clean Water Act was passed to halt this dramatic decline and to restore the ecological integrity of waters of the United States. To enforce the Clean Water Act, a number of ecological assessment techniques have been developed to quantify the ecological quality of the waters of the United States. Kentucky recently adopted a rapid method for assessing the …


The Status Of The Genus Taxus In Kentucky, Robert Reed Pace Jan 2015

The Status Of The Genus Taxus In Kentucky, Robert Reed Pace

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study involved a detailed study of the genus Taxus in Kentucky. A thorough examination was conducted, including a review of the literature, examination of field and herbarium specimens from both native and non-native species, microscopic analysis of leaf ultrastructure, chemical analysis of taxane content, and the construction of GIS models to predict the occurrence of the native species. In the review and examination of morphological features, it was found that the best features for separation of the taxa were plant height, the number of the rows of stomata per abaxial leaf band, and the location of papillose cells on …


Production, Persistence And Diversity Of Species In Temperate Grasslands, Meredith L. Mitchell, Brendan P. Christy Jan 2015

Production, Persistence And Diversity Of Species In Temperate Grasslands, Meredith L. Mitchell, Brendan P. Christy

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Temperate grassland areas are considered to be semi-arid, with rainfall typically between 250 and 500 mm, much of it occurring in the late spring and early summer. Grazing plays an important role in all these grasslands with impacts on diversity and persistence. Against this assumption that seasonal productivity would be more uniform within a pasture that was diverse, the research suggested that species rich pastures were less stable, because this species richness was composed of non-perennial, volunteer and weed species. This paper explores the concept that systems diversity of temperate grassland does not always equate to production. In these systems …


Using Various Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains During Forage Conservation Towards Fermentation, Storage, Nutritive Value And Safety Improvement, Jonas Jatkauskas, Vilma Vrotniakiene Jan 2015

Using Various Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains During Forage Conservation Towards Fermentation, Storage, Nutritive Value And Safety Improvement, Jonas Jatkauskas, Vilma Vrotniakiene

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Many research efforts have been devoted to find ways how to produce silages with maximum nutritive value, good fermentation and low mould and yeast counts. While there are different objectives in using silage additives, the main objectives are to improve fermentation and reduce dry matter loss, and to prevent secondary fermentation at feed out time. This paper presents our most significant and recent investigations on forage inoculation before ensiling that have a potential for beneficial application on grassland and ruminant nutrition.


Traditional Livestock Production And Growth Opportunities In India, S. M. Deb Jan 2015

Traditional Livestock Production And Growth Opportunities In India, S. M. Deb

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock and animal health development projects need to be based on an understanding of livestock production systems because different systems need different approaches particularly in view of degradation of environment combined with population pressure. In India, the livestock production system is primarily traditional, consisting of mixed-farming and pastoral systems, therefore, development of marginal and smallholder mixed farms must aim at intensification of the total production system. Resource-poor farming systems may aim at the improved management of the various livestock species in backyards. Pastoral systems must focus on effective management of grazing pressure. Community pasture management involves application of technologies, land …


Nutrient Movements Through Ruminant Livestock Production Systems, Adegbola T. Adesogan, Jose C. B. Dubeux, Lynn E. Sollenberger Jan 2015

Nutrient Movements Through Ruminant Livestock Production Systems, Adegbola T. Adesogan, Jose C. B. Dubeux, Lynn E. Sollenberger

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Considerable attention has been paid to reducing nutrient emissions from ruminant livestock in the last few decades. This area will continue to attract considerable research in the future due to increasing farm sizes in some developed countries as well as the increasing demand for meat and dairy products, particularly in developing countries. This paper discusses the deposition and losses of carbon and nitrogen in soils and plants in grazed and harvested forage systems as well as utilization and losses of both nutrients by ruminants in both systems. The paper also outlines several soil, plant, and animal-focused strategies that can be …


Rainwater Harvesting And Its Impact On Farming Systems, J. S. Samra Jan 2015

Rainwater Harvesting And Its Impact On Farming Systems, J. S. Samra

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Landless, small holders and other poors supplement their livelihood and adapt to climate change by grazing, stall feeding with crop residues and fodder cultivated under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Improving productivity by conserving rainfall, ground water recharging, harvesting and recycling of rainwater especially in degraded open access or shared land with community participation was quite successful over a wide range of precipitation and ecological situations. Various types of trenches, bunding, vegetative barriers, gully plugs, ponds, check dams, land slides and mine spoils stabilization etc. retained more soil moisture, seeds, vegetative propagules etc. in situ and prevented soil erosion. It regenerated …


Strengthening Livelihood Of Rural Farmer Populations Through Improved Grasslands, Sujatha Premaratne, S. C. Somasiri Jan 2015

Strengthening Livelihood Of Rural Farmer Populations Through Improved Grasslands, Sujatha Premaratne, S. C. Somasiri

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This paper reviews the current background of the grassland resource with a purpose of livestock perspective to improve the livelihood of rural farmers. The use of grasslands for livestock rearing by rural farmers has been a long tradition. In climate and vegetation contrast, these grasslands are much more diverse. They are likely to play an economical role in increasing the milk production in many Asian countries. With an increase of human population, the traditional feeding, breeding and surviving habitats for livestock have been acutely restricted in many countries. Therefore, a continued effort is needed to maintain production for sustainable management …


Problems And Prospects Of Grassland Development: Policy Issues, S. Ray Smith Jan 2015

Problems And Prospects Of Grassland Development: Policy Issues, S. Ray Smith

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are a range of government and non-government policies that affect grassland development around the world. The objective of this paper is to provide examples of successful policies which have been instrumental in the preservation and maintenance of grasslands and to highlight policies which have resulted in negative consequences. This paper will not attempt to provide a complete overview of policies, but instead will provide examples from representative countries. Policies which affect grasslands can be classified into two broad categories: government policies that cover comprehensive landscape issues like the Grassland Household Contract System (GHCS) in China or the Federal Land …


Management Of Grazing Lands Through Educating Communities, D. Ariungerel, Graeme Hand, Annabel Walsh Jan 2015

Management Of Grazing Lands Through Educating Communities, D. Ariungerel, Graeme Hand, Annabel Walsh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Mongolian steppe is one of the world’s largest grassland and it is an arid to semiarid land with a strong climate gradient. Biodiversity loss leading to desertification and land degradation is estimated to be impacting around 65% of the total area of Mongolia. The preliminary objective of this project was to trial the Positive Deviance Methodology to determine if this method assists herders to design behaviors to reverse this biodiversity loss. This project is a partnership between Mongolian Herders, Mongolian rangeland scientists and Australian based Stipa Native Grasses Association. The Positive Deviance Methodology has five basic steps based around …


Livestock And Local Development: Going To A New Humananimal Relationship, Jean François Tourrand, Laurent Dobremez, Benoit Dedieu, Guillaume Duteurtre, M. G. Piketty, P. Lescoat, B. Hubert Jan 2015

Livestock And Local Development: Going To A New Humananimal Relationship, Jean François Tourrand, Laurent Dobremez, Benoit Dedieu, Guillaume Duteurtre, M. G. Piketty, P. Lescoat, B. Hubert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Along the past ten years, the French National Agency for Research (ANR) has financed projects regarding livestock. Results of five projects were gathered to understand the long-term livestock trends. At the end of the 19th century, animal breeding was oriented towards the production of goods to meet the local, regional, national and global demand, according to the zone. The market gradually became the key-factor to norm both production and consumption. It is now integrating environmental norms and is starting to invest in the social domain. However, this economical vision of animal production does not take into account the other functions …


Genomic Approaches For Dissecting Complex Traits Related To Quality Production Of Range Grasses, Masumi Ebina Jan 2015

Genomic Approaches For Dissecting Complex Traits Related To Quality Production Of Range Grasses, Masumi Ebina

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Tropical grasses have been widely used as warm-season forage grasses in the warm temperate zone since the early 20th century because of their high yields; they have also been used as perennial forages in their native tropical areas. Increasing demand for animal production sparked by economic development in tropical countries is requiring breeders to improve native forage grasses in these countries. Considerable efforts have been made to breed accessions with improved characteristics and to develop new cultivars. However, cross-breeding is not common, owing to a lack of genetic information and to complexities related to polyploidy, high sterility rates, outcrossing, and …