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Principal Components Analysis for Quantitative Morphological Characters of the Accessions of Andropogon tectorum-Andropogon gayanus Studied
Source publication
Morphological studies were carried out on collections of Andropogon gayanus-Andropogon tectorum complex from Southwestern Nigeria. This is with the view to providing full characterization of the accession of the two species of Andropogon and elucidating their population dynamics.
Morphological data from selected accessions of A. gayanus and A. tect...
Citations
... A. gayanus kunth and P. pedicellatum Trin particularly have become abundant in some areas. They are regarded among the important abundant grasses in Burkina Faso because they have high reproductive output and high dispersal ability (Grice et al. 2013;dos Santos et al. 2022;Ojo et al. 2022). Moreover, A. Gayanus is a C4 perennial tufted or bunch grass that grows up to 3 m high (Baruch 1994) and possesses several positive characteristics: It exhibits higher photosynthetic efficiency and nutrient uptake (Setterfield et al. 2010;Zhang et al. 2022)owing to its ease of establishment, fast growth rate, high productivity, resilience and long growing season (Adams and Setterfield 2013). ...
ABSTRACT
Invasive species tend to pose a threat to ecosystem biodiversity, functioning, and ecosystem service provision. This study was conducted in Burkina Faso to assess the competitiveness of an invasive species Senna obtusifolia that is a less palatable legume plant in West African Sahelian rangelands. To address the research hypothesis that the recurrent drought in the Sahel results in S. obtusifolia being more competitive in the land invasion, we conducted an interspecific competition involving S. obtusifolia and 3 herbaceous species (Andropogon gayanus, Chamaecrista mimosoides, and Pennisetum pedicellatum) in a greenhouse experiment under four water stress regimes using a replacement series design. The height and biomass of each species were measured throughout four months experiment. In the severe water regime, S. obtusifolia was the most sensitive to water deficit while the 3 other species were found to be resistant. In addition, in all water regimes, the aggressivity index revealed that S. obtusifolia was less competitive than the grass species A. gayanus and P. pedicellatum. Further, the study discovered that drought in the Sahel made S. obtusifolia more vulnerable than the other species. Hence the invasion of Sahelian rangelands by S. obtusifolia could be favored by overgrazing that reduces fodder species' dominance and competitiveness. Good management of sahelian rangelands by controlling grazing could help to reduce S. obtusifolia invasion and provide more fodder for livestock.
