Going native with legumes in rangeland restoration, cultivated pasture and prairies

摘要

Commercially available ecotypic (defined as locally or at least regionally native) herbaceous and semi‐woody legumes are few in sub‐humid and semi‐arid regions of North America. There is a growing demand for native germplasm in the region as a new generation of landowner attempts to return grasslands to a semblance of their original native species composition and diversity. Stable grasslands that incorporate at least a portion of the originally ubiquitous legumes constitute more sustainable rangeland, pasture, biofuel,right‐of‐way, and wildlife habitat than the currently predominant monocultures based on introduced (exotic) germplasm.The objective of this paper is to enumerate the herbaceous and semi‐woody legume germplasm being developed for possible commercial use in drier climates of south‐central North America.