Ecological characteristics and variations among the strains of switchgrass planting on soil erosion in the hills of the Loess Plateau in China

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As a result of poor management, the vegetation on the Loess Plateau, consisting of forests and grassland, has been completely destroyed during the past 2000-year period. Since 1988, we have performed weed species selection tests for the recovery of vegetation in the hills of this plateau. About 20,000 species were introduced from foreign countries on to the slope. As a result, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) has been chosen as a candidate species for the vegetation recovery. In this study, the ecological characteristics and variations among the strains of switchgrass planting on soil erosion in the hills of the Loess Plateau in China was studied.Switchgrass rhizome showed superior cold and dry tolerance in test plants. The rhizome had higher concentration of lipids and higher proportions of unsaturated fatty acid than did other spesies rhizome. This difference may contribute to the superior cold tolerance of switchgrass. Switchgrass has excellent root system and was effective for the prevention of soil erosion due to tight soil binding force. In switchgrass planting field, switchgrass became dominant, but native species have been survived. Switchgrass had many strains in ecologically and hereditarily.