A renewed interest in the present state of genebanks conserving pasture genetic resources worldwide motivated this study to quantify the wealth of grass (Poaceae) diversity indigenous to southern Africa, here defined as South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (previously Swaziland). Botanical occurrence records were extracted from BODATSA and PHYTOBAS datasets to generate a list of grass species indigenous to the study area. The phylogenetic classification, growth form, photosynthetic pathway, grazing status, endemism and conservational status attributes were added to the 43,889 species level records, sourced from published literature. Results from the current study indicate that the subcontinent is represented by eight subfamilies, 25 tribes, 151 genera and 685 species, inferring that only 20% of the world’s grass genera and 6% of world’s grass species are found in the study area with Panicoideae the most speciose subfamily. Paniceae is the only tribe with large numbers of both C₃ and C₄ species and with several species of high grazing value, therefore, was suggested as a priority lineage in the collection and conservation efforts of the South African National Forage Genebank. This genebank conserves at present 73 genera and 162 indigenous grass species, i.e. 48% and 24% of the total number of taxa respectively, denoting the current vulnerable status of grass genetic resources in southern Africa. A need to therefore collect and conserve grass genetic resources is emphasised, with greater focus on the conservation of seed of well-known pasture genera classified as endangered or possibly extinct (mainly Panicum L. and Secale L.).

对全球保存牧场遗传资源的种质库现状的重新关注促使这项研究对南部非洲土著的草（禾本科）多样性（这里定义为南非，莱索托和埃斯瓦蒂尼（以前为斯威士兰））的财富进行了量化。从BODATSA和PHYTOBAS数据集提取植物发生记录，以生成研究区域内原生草种的列表。系统发育分类，生长形式，光合途径，放牧状态，特有性和保护状态属性被添加到43,889种物种水平的记录中，这些记录来自公开的文献。当前研究的结果表明，该次大陆由8个亚科，25个部落，151属和685种组成，推断在研究区域中仅发现了全世界20％的草属和6％的草种，其中Panicoideae是最特殊的亚科。Paniceae是唯一拥有大量C和C的部落因此，在南非国家牧草基因库的收集和保护工作中，建议将₃种和C ₄种以及几种具有高放牧价值的种作为优先宗谱。该种质库目前保护着73个属和162种本土草种，即分别占分类单元总数的48％和24％，这表明了南部非洲草种遗传资源目前的脆弱状况。因此，强调了收集和保存草类遗传资源的需要，更着重于保护被划分为濒危或可能灭绝的主要牧草属（主要是Panicum L.和Secale L.）的种子。