Designing and improving mixed grasslands: advances made in modelling forage variety performance

Thanks to advances in modelling, it is possible to simulate changes in the productivity of multispecies grasslands over time based on the individual responses of plant varieties to variables such as light, water availability, and temperature. Individual-based models now exist for the most common grass and legume species. Virtual Grassland is one such tool in which several species can be combined to form a complex grassland; it also takes intraspecific variability into account. Using grain-crop models, it is possible to model the seed production of individual plants as well as successive cycles of vegetative production. Quantitative genetics have helped characterise functional traits, thus establishing a link between crop ecophysiology and the genetic composition of subsequent generations. These advances have paved the way for improvements in plant breeding programmes and have clarified grassland composition "rules", which will allow mixed grassland systems to better confront climate change.