Evaluation of native grasses for sustainable turfgrass in the bioclimatic mediterranean region

This study reports the results of a research project (Mi.T.E.A.Med)funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture. The research was organised in twophases: the first one involved the screening of the study area (Southern Italy) to findsuitable turfgrass species and the second one focused on ex situ cultivation to testthe ecotypes with salinity resistance. During the first step of the research, 11 sitesfrom 6 regions of Southern and Central Italy were identified. In these sites,24 ecotypes ofCynodon dactylon(L.) Pers. were collected and their habitus,phenology, and some biometric parameters have been determined. During the2 years of research, both botanic and agronomic characterisation of the collectedC. dactylonecotypes was carried out. Some native accessions showed a behavioursimilar to commercial cultivars, while an ecotype from the Abruzzo Region showedbetter results compared to the commercial cultivars for several quality indices. Theresults of this project showed that Mediterranean-adapted native grass species(e.g.Cynodon dactylon(L.) Pers.) are worth investigating for turfgrass, makingfor their performance and low resource requirement (especially water). This speciescan be used as promising alternatives to conventional non-native turfgrasses