Restoring grasslands in arid areas

The grasslands on the Asian prairies and the western US grazing areas have the same climate, plants, land use and problems. A researcher from the Agricultural Research Agency participated in the search process in Asia to find and preserve plants that are made for livestock and to see if these plants can be used. used to recover arid grasslands elsewhere in the world.

ARS Doug Johnson's plant physiologist is a member of an international collaborative program that collects seeds of livestock plants for more than a decade in Mongolia and China.The food source of native grass and herbivores in this area year-round is grass and beans.

Grassland plants collected in Mongolia and China have the potential to help restore arid grasslands in many parts of the world including the United States.(Photo: Ann Perry).

This source of food has grown for thousands of years under extremely hot and extremely cold weather conditions, drought and saline soil.However, the abuse of grazing, soil erosion and weed destruction is currently threatening the diversity of this grassland area.

Johnson works at ARS Laboratory in Logan, Utah. From 1994 to 1998 he and other researchers from Mongolia and China traveled about 13,000 miles in Mongolia to search for plants for animal feed.

In return for their efforts, the collection of 1,373 plants, including 323 varieties and 581 species. Practical assessments in Mongolia then identified the most suitable plants for redeveloping forgotten pastures, restoring abandoned mines and suburbs.

In 2006, collectors sent 123 collections of seeds from China to the United States. These seeds are now part of the US National Plant System, including about 509,000 other additional species from all parts of the world. The Asian Seed Collection will provide precious materials for US breeding programs, aimed at improving grassland plants.

This study will complement Johson's previous contribution including collecting, evaluating and introducing crops for new livestock feed. These plants are used by farmers, ranchers and land managers in dry areas of the western United States to increase production and conserve natural resources.