Restoring Energy Fields for Wildlife Project update October 31, 2012 Danielle Johnston
elevation Eliminate seed bank Eliminate natural dispersal Apply Herbicide seed Grasses heavily seed grasses lightly Apply Brush as mulch Forgo seeding Mountain Top Experiment Encourage natural dispersal Strategy Choice and Competition Experiments Pipeline and Gulley Experiments Competition Part 2 and Horsethief Demonstration site
Precipitation (mm) 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 March-June Precipitation 2010 2011 2012 GVM YC1 MTN SPG
Competition Experiment Cheatgrass (annual) Perennial wheatgrasses vs. 300 seeds/m 2 450 seeds/m 2 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Competition Experiment 1. Soil Binding Treatment None Low (175 gal/ac) High (440 gal/ac) No Rolling 2. Rolling treatment Rolled 5X None 3. SAP Treatment Luquasorb
Super Absorbent Polymer Treatment -O O O OH K + 2 Sites: SGE (6.7 g/m 2 ) WRR (30.8 g/m 2 )
Density (plants/m 2 ) or cover (%) 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 SAP no SAP SGE WRR SGE WRR SGE WRR 2010 (density) Cheatgrass and SAP 2011 (cover) 2012 (cover)
Competition Experiment Strategy Choice Experiment H L N N L H L H N L H N N H L N H L L N H L H N H N L H L N N H L L H N H L N N L H N H L L N H N L H H N L N L H H N L Tramfloc Competition Part 2 Tramfloc Tramfloc 1 2 3 4 LC LC HC HC 5 6 7 8 HC HC LC LC 9 10 11 12 HC HC LC LC
Competition Part 2
Competition Part 2 Variety common name Genus Species Seeds/m2 Nezpar indian ricegrass Achnatherum hymenoides 130 Hachita Blue Gramma Bouteloua gracilis 65 Toe Jam Creek bottlebrush squirreltail Elymus elymoides 65 San Luis slender wheatgrass Elymus trachycalus 52 cedar Sandberg Bluegrass Poa sandbergii 182 Anatone Bluebunch wheatgrass pseudoregneria spicata 104 VNS Sulphur flower buckwheat Eriogonum umbellatum 130 Timp Utah sweetvetch Hedysarum boreale 26 Maple Grove Lewis flax linum lewsii 91 Cedar Palmer penstemon pestemon palmeri 104 Arriba western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii 39 "co native" Fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens 195 VNS Wyoming Big Sagebrush Artemisia tridentata 150 forb bunch grass rhizomatous grass shrub
Strategy Choice Experiment GVM 5451 ft. SGE MTN WRR 6573 ft. 7160 ft. 7268 ft.
Strategy Choice Experiment 1. Seed Mix treatment High Competition Seed mix Low Competition Seed mix 2. Soil surface treatment Rough surface with brush mulch Flat surface with straw mulch 3. Herbicide treatment Plateau herbicide No herbicide (GVM and MTN only)
Seed mix treatment High Competition mix Low Competition mix WRFO mix 538 seeds/m 2 1049 seeds/m 2 1614 seeds/m 2
Plateau treatment
Surface treatment
Flat 2011 photos Rough
Biomass Data Collection Estimated weight (g) Actual weight (g)
Wagon Road Site Plot Number 3 July 11, 2011 July 2, 2012
Seed mix treatment Biomass (g/m 2 ) 120 100 80 60 40 20 * * High Competition Low Competition 0 grass forb shrub annual grass annual forb
Plateau treatment Biomass (g/m 2 ) 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 * grass forb shrub Plateau No Plateau annual grass annual forb * MTN site
Surface treatment 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 grass forb shrub GVM 0 20 40 60 80 100 grass forb shrub * * SGE 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 grass forb shrub * MTN 0 50 100 150 200 grass forb shrub WRR * Biomass (g/m 2 ) Flat Surface Rough Surface
Cheatgrass and Soil Surface Treatment- 2011 Annual Grass Cover (%) 50 40 30 20 10 0 Flat Surface Rough Surface Plateau * No Plateau
Cheatgrass and Soil Surface Treatment- 2012 Biomass (g/m 2 ) 0.5 0.45 0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 Plateau Flat Rough * no Plateau
Horsethief Demonstration Project
Horsethief Demonstration Project
Horsethief Demonstration Project
Horsethief Demonstration Project common name Genus Species Seeds /m2 PLS/acre Western yarrow Achillea millefolium 30 0.04 Indian ricegrass Achnatherum hymenoides 60 1.67 Wyoming Sagebrush Artemisia tridentata 120 0.32 Fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens 40 5.89 Blue Gramma Bouteloua gracilis 100 0.56 yellow rabbitbrush Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus 50 0.31 bottlebrush squirreltail Elymus elymoides 60 1.26 Streambank wheatgrass Elymus lanceolatus ssp. psammophilus 40 0.95 slender wheatgrass Elymus trachycalus 40 1.22 Thickspike wheatgrass Elymus lanceolatus ssp. landeolatus 50 1.30 rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa 60 0.40 Aspen fleabane Erigeron speciosus 50 0.13 Sulfur-flower buckwheat Eriogonum umbellatum 23 0.45 Utah sweetvetch Hedysarum boreale 15 1.81 needle and thread Hesperostipa commata 30 1.06 winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata 10 0.36 Lewis flax linum lewsii 40 0.54 western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii 30 1.07 Dusty Penstemon Penstemon comarrhenus 90 0.61 Palmer penstemon pestemon palmeri 60 0.40 Sandberg Bluegrass Poa sandbergii 60 0.26 bluebunch wheatgrass Pseudoroegneria spicata 60 1.73 forb bunchgrass rhizomatous grass shrub
Horsethief Demonstration Project Tramfloc Tramfloc
Acknowledgements Funding: WPX Energy Encana Oil and Gas Shell Oil Company Marathon Oil Access: ConocoPhillips BLM WRFO BLM CRVFO Many field technicians