02361naa a2200265 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400310006010000160009124501450010726000090025250001350026152013750039665300270177165300200179865300130181865300220183165300230185370000160187670000150189270000140190770000210192170000150194277301380195710615262022-09-05       2020    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 a10.3390/plants91115872DOI1 aBELGERI, A.  aManaging an invasive weed species, parthenium hysterophorus, with suppressive plant species in australian grasslands.h[electronic resource]  c2020  aArticle history: Received: 25 October 2020 / Revised: 12 November 2020 / Accepted: 13 November 2020 / Published: 16 November 2020.  aAbstract Parthenium weed has been invading native and managed Australian grasslands for almost 40 years. This study quantified the potential of selected plant mixtures to suppress the growth of parthenium weed and followed their response to grazing and their impact upon plant community diversity. The first mixture consisted of predominantly introduced species including Rhodes grass, Bisset bluegrass, butterfly pea and green panic. This mixture produced biomass rapidly and showed tolerance to weed species other than parthenium weed. However, the mixture was unable to suppress the growth of parthenium weed. The second mixture of predominantly native pasture species (including forest bluegrass, Queensland bluegrass, Buffel grass and siratro) produced biomass relatively slowly, but eventually reached the same biomass production as the first mixture 12 weeks after planting. This mixture suppressed parthenium weed re-establishment by 78% compared to the control treatment. Its tolerance to the invasion of other weed species and the maintenance of forage species evenness was also superior. The total diversity was five times higher for the mixture communities as compared to the plant community in the control treatment. Therefore, using the suppressive pasture mixtures may provide an improved sustainable management approach for parthenium weed in grasslands.  aINVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES  aPARTHENIUM WEED  aPASTURES  aSPECIES DIVERSITY  aSUPPRESSIVE PLANTS1 aBAJWA, A.A.1 aSHABBIR, A1 aNAVIE, S.1 aVIVIAN-SMITH, G.1 aADKINS, S.  tPlants, November 2020, Volume 9, Issue 11, Article number 1587, Pages 1-18. Open Access. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants9111587