On rural blocks where grazing and vehicular traffic has a high impact, native grasses are the first component of the native vegetation to vanish. This leaves the soil bare and prone to erosion or invasion by weeds and vigorous introduced plants such as buffel grass.
Native grasses are an important part of many native vegetation communities.
They are a key component of the nutrient cycle, they provide food and shelter for native animals and birds as well as protecting the soil from erosion. With some care and effort native grasses can be re-introduced to create a healthy, functional vegetation community and provide protection to the soil while reducing the opportunity for introduced weeds to invade. Due to the lack of commercial supply, seed must be collected from naturally occurring stands. It is best to use seed that is at least a year old because fresh seed can have a high percentage of dormant seed which will not germinate. It is tempting to spread seed thinly to make it go further.