The ecological and economical importance of African grasses in sustaining animal production prompted studies to quantify the wealth of grass genetic resources indigenous to southern Africa. Plant collection and occurrence data were extracted from two southern African datasets, BODATSA and PHYTOBAS, and analysed to establish biogeographical patterns in the grass flora indigenous to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. A total of 1 648 quarter degree grid cells, representing 674 grass species, were used in an agglomerative hierarchical clustering to determine biogeographical units being referred to as grasschoria. Six distinct groups formed, mainly following existing biome vegetation units, termed the Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Fynbos, Savanna, Central Arid Region and Succulent Karoo grasschoria. The description focuses on associated phytochoria, floristic links, key species, climate and soil properties. The main gradient distinguishing grasschoria was a rainfall-temperature gradient. The collection, conservation and breeding of pasture grass species adapted to especially arid and semi-arid environments, could be managed more efficiently by using these results, but also calling on the need to describe and label infraspecific genetic variants, including ecotypes.

非洲牧草在维持动物生产方面的生态和经济重要性促使研究对南部非洲本土牧草遗传资源的财富进行量化。从两个南部非洲数据集 BODATSA 和 PHYTOBAS 中提取植物收集和发生数据，并对其进行分析以建立南非、莱索托和埃斯瓦蒂尼本土草群的生物地理模式。总共 1 648 个四分之一度网格单元，代表 674 种草种，被用于凝聚层次聚类，以确定被称为草属的生物地理单位。形成了六个不同的组，主要遵循现有的生物群落植被单元，称为草原、印度洋海岸带、Fynbos、稀树草原、中部干旱区和多汁的卡鲁草。描述的重点是相关的植物绒毛、植物区系、关键物种、气候和土壤特性。区分草履虫的主要梯度是降雨-温度梯度。通过使用这些结果，可以更有效地管理适应特别干旱和半干旱环境的牧草物种的收集、保护和育种，但也需要描述和标记种下遗传变异，包括生态型。