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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Reno, Nevada » Great Basin Rangelands Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298704
Title: Restoring abandoned agricultural lands in cold desert shrublands: tradeoffs between water availability and invasive species

Author
item CHAMBERS, JEANNE - Us Forest Service (FS)
item ELDREDGE, ERIK - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item Snyder, Keirith
item BOARD, DAVID - Us Forest Service (FS)
item FORBIS DE QUEIROZ, TARA - Former ARS Employee
item HUBBARD, VADA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)

Submitted to: Invasive Plant Science and Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2013
Publication Date: 1/5/2014
Citation: Chambers, J.C., Eldredge, E.P., Snyder, K.A., Board, D.L., Forbis De Queiroz, T., Hubbard, V. 2014. Restoring abandoned agricultural lands in cold desert shrublands: tradeoffs between water availability and invasive species. Invasive Plant Science and Management. 7(1):176-189.

Interpretive Summary: Restoration of abandoned agricultural land to create sustainable natural systems is particularly difficult in arid systems of the Great Basin. Therefore we conducted a replicated experiment to determine if sprinkler irrigation, straw mulch and herbicide application would improve native species establishment and reduce competition with invasive species. This experiment was conducted is a cold desert shrubland in southwestern Nevada, USA. This experiment used large plots to determine the effects of the three treatments at scales relevant to land managers. We found that irrigation improved native plant establishment in the dry year, but was inconsistent in the wet year. In the absence of irrigation, mulch improved native plant establishment in the dry year. There was no effect of herbicide. These results suggest that in ecosystems with highly variable precipitation, the most effective restoration strategies are likely adaptive ones that take into account current rainfall patterns and invasive species composition to determine the timing and amount of irrigation. Furthermore, if irrigation is not possible, then mulching can be used to improve native species establishment.

Technical Abstract: Restoration of abandoned agricultural lands to create sustainable ecosystems in arid and semi-arid ecosystems typically requires seeding or transplanting native species, improving plant-soil-water relations, and controlling invasive species. We asked if improving water relations via irrigation or surface mulch would result in negative tradeoffs between native species establishment and invasive species competition and if those tradeoffs could be mitigated with a timed herbicide application. We examined the effects of sprinkler irrigation, straw mulch, and herbicide (2, 4-D) on native seed mixtures planted in two consecutive years in an abandoned agricultural field in a cold desert shrubland in southwestern Nevada, USA. Restoration effects differed among years due to contingency effects of growing season conditions. Precipitation was low during the first growing season and seeded plant density, cover or biomass increased in response to irrigation. Precipitation was relatively high during the second growing season, seeded plant densities and biomass were generally high, and irrigation had inconsistent effects. Mulch increased seeded plant establishment in the absence of irrigation during the dry year. Invasive plant biomass and cover also were influenced by growing season, but irrigation increased invasive plants regardless of precipitation. Herbicide application had no effect likely due to differences in phenologies and growth forms of the invasive species. Positive effects of irrigation on seeded plant density, cover, and biomass outweighed negative tradeoffs of increases in invasive plants. In ecosystems with highly variable precipitation, the most effective restoration strategies are likely adaptive ones, requiring determination of timing and amount of irrigation and type of herbicide application based on precipitation, native plant establishment, and invasive species composition and abundance.