Reestablishing cold-desert grasslands: a seeding experiment in Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Belnap J and Sharpe SE. 1995. Reestablishing cold-desert grasslands: a seeding experiment in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Pages 46-51. In Belnap J and Sharpe SE (ed): Proceedings: Wildland Shrub and Arid Land Restoration Symposium. Las Vegas, NV. October 19-21, 1993. U.S. Department of Agriculture: Forest Service--Intermountain Research Station. Ogden, UT. General Technical Report INT-GTR-315
This study conducted in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park determined the efficacy of 18 different treatments (various combinations of sugar, fertilizer, mulch, cyanobacterial inoculant, water, no water) on the establishment and survival of the native grasses, on the cover and biomass of two exotic annual species, and on the influence of the exotic annuals on the survival of the seeded native perennials. Treatments were applied to an area seeded with native grasses Stipa comata and Stipa hymenoides. Study results indicate that several commonly held assumptions regarding arid-land revegetation are not supported in field trials. The tests showed that mulch in these conditions was a hindrance rather than a help to the native species, and that above average rainfall is not required for establishment. Other factors appear to have more influence. Also, presence of exotic annuals is not always a problem, and in fact can sometimes aid revegetation. With 20 references.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Belnap, Jayne; Sharpe, Saxon
- Units
- CANY
- Keywords
- arid, Exotic/Invasive Species - Plants, Grasses (Gramineae), Grassland, Inventory, Management, Monitoring, Native Species, Needles district (CANY), Plant Communities, Plant Studies, Reseeding, Restoration - Natural, Revegetation