Can we improve restoration success in the Great Basin?

Can we improve restoration success in the Great Basin?

Elizabeth LegerUniversity of Nevada, Reno

Restoration in the Great Basin

How can we improve restoration success in the Great Basin?

Putting the pieces together

1. Reduce cheatgrass seed production and seed bank

2. Select the best seed mix3. Seed at the optimum time, with the best

technology4. Use the best post-restoration management

1. Reduce cheatgrass seed production

1. Reduce cheatgrass seed production

• Wild fire• Herbicides• Cheatgrass beer brewing• High intensity, short duration grazing• Biocontrol• Take advantage of cheatgrass die-offs

2. Reduce cheatgrass seed bank

1% of 40,000 is still a lot of seeds

Dr. Susan Meyer, USFSDr. Julie Beckstead, Gonzaga University

• BFOD, Pyrenophora semeniperda

3. Pick the best seed mix• Early seral species, best competitors• Local sources• Populations with the best suite of traits

Elymus elymoides, multisetus Poa secunda

Amsinckia sp. Ericameria nauseosa

AMTE BRTE AMIN MEVE DEPI BLSC0

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Annual forbs can suppress cheatgrass

Goergen, Leger, & Forbis; in review

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AMTE and BRTE

Where do our seeds come from?

What are good traits?

Seedling traits strongly affect survival

Seed weight

Growth rate

Leaf number

Leaf biomass

Leaf area

Root tipsRoot forks

Root:shoot

Average root diameter

Root length, by size class

Specific root area, lengthRoot branching

Coarse roots

Fine roots

Total root length

Emergence

4. Seed with the right technology

Single seedling Clustered seedlings

Seedlings do better with neighbors

Matt Madsen, USDA ARS, Burns, OR

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20

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FEID PSSP

Dens

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controlagglomerate

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Idaho fescue

Bluebunch wheatgrass

Bluebunch wheatgrass

Idaho fescuesingle seedling agglomeration

single seedling agglomeration

Higher densities of grouped seeds

Matt Madsen, USDA ARS, Burns, OR

5. Best post-fire management

Can we put the pieces together?

• Will require a coordinated efforts among researchers, seed centers, managers

– Multi-year effort, many investigators!

• May require changes in management practices– More expensive, but maybe more effective

– Seed smaller areas, seeding without fires