Natural expansion of Buchloe dactyloides at a disturbed site in New Jerseyand its implications for turf and conservation uses

Buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.] has been widely used in central North America for reseeding depleted rangelands and for erosion con trol, and recently it has received attention as a turf species. However, du e to its shade intolerance and inability to compete under high rainfall con ditions, its ability to increase unaided in northeastern North America was unknown. This paper describes the growth of a population initiated by an ac cidental introduction in 1977 of buffalograss diaspores into a heavily tram pled site with a shallow compacted soil at Rutgers University. In 10 years, buffalograss was found 123 m from the point of the introduction and was th e primary plant cover on 20% of a 0.1 ha grass-forb area. Expansion of the population occurred through both clonal spread and seedling establishment. In 1986, a total census produced a wide range of clonal size classes, and s eedling recruitment that year was estimated at 6 per m(2). In 1988, a 62 m( 2) area was estimated to have produced a minimum of 64,250 diaspores in the prior 5 years. Twenty-four clones from the site, established in a transpla nt garden in mid-July 1995, have all shown winter hardiness; four of them a re demonstrating superior periods of green growth and growth rates, which s uggest the potential for a successful cultivar for denuded sites in the reg ion.