SOIL AND GRASSLAND: IF GRASS NEEDS SOIL, DOES SOIL NEED GRASS?

Abstract

THIS subject sets a problem of where to begin. As a soil scientist, my choice would be soil and that choice fits into the evolutionary history of the earth which shows soil occurring under forests and existing for millions of years before grasses. It is not known if soil changes assisted the birth of grasslands or followed their expansion, but we do know that soil and grassland now form a natural partnership over parts of the earth. In New Zealand that partnership has been extensively forced on soils formed under forest or shrublands and my purpose is to review the effects - the benefits or otherwise of this compulsory marriage. In doing so, I would admit that grasses have a higher status than soil. They have been described as "the benediction of nature" whereas soil does not inspire such poetry - perhaps the best being "Soil is mud moistened with love".