Degradation characterized by depleted vegetation cover is a serious environmental problem in African rangelands. It poses a serious threat to millions of pastoralists and agropastoralists who depend on livestock as a source of livelihood. Consequently, there has been a growing global interest to consolidate efforts to restore degraded ecosystems. For example, the UN decade of Ecosystem Restoration initiative aims at uniting the world behind a common goal of preventing, halting and reversing the degradation of ecosystems. Grass reseeding using native perennial species has been identified as one of the practical ecological strategies for restoring degraded African rangelands, enhancing vegetation cover and forage production. Knowledge of the multifaceted performance of African rangeland grasses in terms of morphoecological traits, interaction with weeds and water use efficiencies is however largely limited and often elusive. Perennial grasses indigenous to African rangelands Cenchrus ciliaris L. (African foxtail grass), Enteropogon macrostachyus (Hochst. Ex A. Rich.) Monro ex Benth. (Bush rye grass) and Eragrostis superba Peyr. (Maasai love grass), were established in an African semi-arid rangeland under natural conditions to fill this knowledge gap. Morphoecological plant traits: aboveground biomass (shoot, leaf and stem) production, plant densities, basal cover, tiller densities and plant height were measured 9 months after establishment. Interaction between the target grass species and weeds and water use efficiencies (WUE) were also determined. Enteropogon macrostachyus displayed significantly higher values for plant densities, tiller densities and basal cover, indices commonly used to estimate the potential of grasses for ecological restoration. Eragrostis superba produced the highest shoot biomass and water use efficiencies. This is attributed to its higher leafy biomass fraction. Higher aboveground biomass production of E. superba demonstrate its suitability for enhancing rangeland productivity. Cenchrus ciliaris suppressed the weeds. This is linked to its aggressive and allelopathic nature. In conclusion, the three perennial grasses displayed distinct morphoecological traits. In order to achieve successful seed-based restoration of degraded African rangelands using native perennial grasses, careful selection species to maximize on their unique traits is recommended. Ultimately, this selection process should match the desired restoration outcomes and subsequent use of the rangeland.

中文翻译：

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用于恢复非洲牧场的草的植物形态生态特征、草-杂草相互作用和水分利用效率

以植被枯竭为特征的退化是非洲牧场的一个严重环境问题。它对数百万以牲畜为生计的牧民和农牧民构成严重威胁。因此，全球对加强恢复退化生态系统的努力越来越感兴趣。例如，联合国生态系统恢复十年倡议旨在团结世界，共同实现防止、制止和扭转生态系统退化的目标。使用本地多年生草种重新播种已被确定为恢复退化的非洲牧场、增加植被覆盖和饲料生产的实用生态策略之一。了解非洲牧场草在形态生态特征方面的多方面表现，然而，与杂草和水资源利用效率的相互作用在很大程度上是有限的，而且往往难以捉摸。非洲牧场土生土长的多年生草 Cenchrus ciliaris L.（非洲狐尾草），Enteropogon macrostachyus (Hochst. Ex A. Rich.) Monro ex Benth。（灌木黑麦草）和画眉草。（马赛爱草），是在自然条件下在非洲半干旱牧场建立的，以填补这一知识空白。形态生态植物性状：在建立后 9 个月测量地上生物量（枝条、叶和茎）产量、植物密度、基部覆盖度、分蘖密度和植物高度。还确定了目标草种与杂草之间的相互作用以及水分利用效率 (WUE)。Enteropogon macrostachyus 的植物密度、分蘖密度和基部覆盖度显示出显着更高的值，常用于估算草类生态恢复潜力的指标。画眉草产生最高的枝条生物量和水分利用效率。这归因于其较高的叶生物量分数。E. superba 较高的地上生物量产量证明其适用于提高牧场生产力。Cenchrus ciliaris 抑制了杂草。这与其侵略性和化感作用有关。总之，这三种多年生草显示出不同的形态生态特征。为了使用本地多年生草成功地对退化的非洲牧场进行基于种子的恢复，建议仔细选择物种以最大限度地发挥其独特的特性。最终，这个选择过程应该与预期的恢复结果和牧场的后续使用相匹配。