ABSTRACT
The once limitless forests of humid tropical America are rapidly being converted to grasslands. Areas newly cleared of selva or montanna cropped for a few years, then planted to perennial African grasses to form "artificial" pastures. Agriculture is thus but a temporary stage in the process by which forest is being converted to potreros, especially where grazing pressure, set fires, and the purposeful cutting or uprooting of aggressive woody species promote the dominance of grasses over second-growth vegetation. Tropical Africa has been an independent center of development for a number of sown forage grasses, including virtually all of the important ones that may be considered truly tropical. Jaragua's remarkable aggressiveness and its self-seeding ability are demonstrated by its capacity to compete with native savanna grasses. The tropical forest of Latin America, so long considered inviolate, is under serious and sustained attack on countless fronts, and it must be considered an important question whether it will long endure.
