Establishing seed islands for native forb species on rangelands using N-Sulate ground cover fabric

Melissa Landeen; Covy Jones; Scott Jensen; Alison Whittaker; Daniel D Summers; Dennis Eggett; Steven L Petersen

doi:10.3368/npj.22.1.51

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Figure 1.
Map of study sites throughout central and south-central Utah.
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Figure 2.
Mean density of seeded species across all sites including both temporal replication. Year 1 post-treatment showing emergence of seeded species (A); year 2 post-treatment showing first-year survival (B); year 5 post-treatment showing seeded species persistence (C). Solid bars represent covered treatments and hashed bars represent non-covered treatments. Asterisks represent statistical significance. ARMU = Argemone munita, BASA = Balsamorhiza sagittata, CLSE = Cleome serrulata, HEBO = Hedysarum boreale, HEMUN = Heliomeris multiflora subsp. nevadensis, LIPE = Linum perenne, LONU = Lomatium nudicaule, LUAR = Lupinus argenteus, NIAT = Nicotiana attenuata, PEPA = Penstemon pachyphyllus, POFE = Poa fendleriana, SPGR = Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia, THMI = Thelypodium milleflorum.
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Figure 3.
Mean density of seeded species by site including both temporal replications for 1-y post-treatment (A), 2-y post-treatment (B), 5-y post-treatment (C). FG = Fountain Green, GC = Gordon Creek, HR = Hatch Ranch, LP = Lookout Pass.
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Figure 4.
Mean cover of perennial grass, annual weeds, and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) at each site including both temporal replications over time. FG = Fountain Green, GC = Gordon Creek, HR = Hatch Ranch, LP = Lookout Pass. Asterisks represent statistical significance.
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Figure 5.
Mean density of most abundant non-seeded perennial taxa across all sites including both temporal replications. Year 1 post-treatment (A), year 2 post-treatment (B), year 5 post-treatment (C). Solid bars represent covered treatments and hashed bars represent non-covered treatments. ARTR = Artemisia tridentata, ASTR = Astragalus spp., CADR = Cardaria draba, CANUN = Carduus nutans ssp. nutans, CHNA = Chrysothamnus nauseosus, CHVI = Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, GUSA = Gutierrezia sarothrae, PHLO = Phlox longifolia, SPCO = Sphaeralcea coccinea, TRIFO = Trifolium spp.

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TABLE 1

Experimental site locations and characteristics.

Site name	Latitude	Longitude	Elevation (m)	Mean annual precipitation (mm)
Fountain Green	39.62167	−111.6189	1776	349
Gordon Creek	39.63972	−111.0181	2187	351
Hatch Ranch	40.29139	−112.6286	1525	359
Lookout Pass	40.09167	−112.6572	1613	331

Notes: m × 3.3 = ft; mm × 0.04 = in.

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TABLE 2

Seed mixes and seeding rate, pure live seed per square meter (PLS/m²).

Mix	Species code	Scientific name	Common name	PLS/m
1	LIPE2	Linum perenne (Linaceae)	Blue flax ‘Appar’	47.15
1	POFE	Poa fendleriana (Poaceae)	Muttongrass	49.51
1	CLSE	Cleome serrulata (Capparaceae)	Rocky Mountain beeplant	47.25
1	LUAR3	Lupinus argenteus (Fabaceae)	Silvery lupine	33.80
1	SPGR2	Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia (Malvaceae)	Gooseberryleaf globemallow	46.18
1	BASA3	Balsamorhiza sagittata (Asteraceae)	Arrowleaf balsamroot	41.87
1	HEBO	Hedysarum boreale (Fabaceae)	Northern sweetvetch ‘Timp’	31.65
1	PEPA6	Penstemonpachyphyllus (Scrophulariaceae)	Thickleaf penstemon	42.41
2	AGGR	Agoseris grandiflora (Asteraceae)	Bigflower agoseris	31.75
2	AGHE2	Agoseris heterophylla (Asteraceae)	Annual agoseris	29.60
2	NIAT	Nicotiana attenuata (Solanaceae)	Coyote tobacco	43.06
2	LONU2	Lomatium nudicaule (Apiaceae)	Barestem biscuitroot	38.75
2	ARMU	Argemone munita (Papaveraceae)	Flatbud pricklepoppy	39.93
2	HEMUN	Heliomeris multiflora subsp. nevadensis (Asteraceae)	Nevada goldeneye	37.14
2	THMI5	Thelypodium milleflorum (Brassicaceae)	Manyflower thelypody	35.95

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TABLE 3

Mean plant density by site, treatment, species, and time since treatment based on data collected in both temporal replications initiated in 2009 and 2010.

Species	Year	Fountain Green			Gordon Creek			Hatch Ranch			Lookout Pass			All sites (mean)
Species	Year	C	NC	P	C	NC	P	C	NC	P	C	NC	P	C	N	P
Agoseris	1	6.68	1.56	0.0516^*	6.91	3.34	0.1660	14.78	2.37	>0.0001^*	8.47	1.78	0.0132^*	9.21	2.26	>0.0001^*
	2	0.28	0.17	0.9658	4.05	2.94	0.6619	2.40	1.12	0.6133	0.85	1.24	0.8754	1.89	1.37	0.6225
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.07	0.00	0.9789	0.20	0.27	0.9789	0.00	0.07	0.9789	0.07	0.08	0.9875
ARMU	1	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.10	0.02	0.0481^*	0.04	0.08	0.2861	0.07	0.01	0.1542	0.05	0.03	0.1963
	2	0.01	0.01	1.0000	0.02	0.11	0.0352^*	0.00	0.02	0.6245	0.00	0.01	0.8063	0.01	0.04	0.1235
	5	0.00	0.03	0.4353	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.01	0.6687
BASA3	1	2.48	1.46	0.2273	2.28	1.76	0.5300	3.37	0.89	0.0059^*	0.99	0.65	0.6790	2.28	1.19	0.0419^*
	2	0.15	0.12	0.9696	1.01	0.60	0.6250	1.43	0.43	0.2367	0.29	0.25	0.9579	0.72	0.35	0.4608
	5	0.03	0.00	0.9679	0.53	0.43	0.9040	5.80	1.63	>0.0001^*	0.43	0.13	0.7179	1.70	0.55	0.0333^*
CLSE	1	1.36	1.14	0.7487	1.63	2.14	0.4520	0.76	0.47	0.6665	1.37	1.13	0.7186	1.28	1.22	0.5523
	2	0.00	0.02	0.9803	0.16	0.14	0.9754	0.02	0.02	1.0000	0.39	0.69	0.6521	0.14	0.22	0.4594
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.07	0.9214	0.00	0.03	0.9606	0.00	0.03	0.8042
HEBO	1	1.46	1.07	0.3555	2.91	1.27	0.0006^*	4.05	1.12	>0.0001^*	1.98	0.60	0.0028^*	2.60	1.01	>0.0001^*
	2	0.01	0.02	0.9827	0.51	0.43	0.8467	0.14	0.16	0.9525	0.12	0.06	0.8817	0.19	0.17	0.9095
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.03	0.07	0.9368	0.33	0.07	0.5273	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.09	0.03	0.8091
HEMUN	1	0.02	0.00	0.9827	0.02	0.01	0.9892	0.50	0.35	0.8449	0.48	0.60	0.8712	0.25	0.24	0.0601
	2	0.00	0.03	0.9740	0.19	0.04	0.8407	0.39	0.10	0.7120	0.10	0.90	0.3008	0.17	0.27	0.4381
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.60	0.07	0.4887	2.55	1.10	0.0671	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.79	0.29	1.0000
LIPE2	1	2.44	1.20	0.5131	5.71	2.25	0.0763	10.08	3.04	0.0010^*	5.01	1.03	0.0442^*	5.81	1.88	0.0001^*
	2	1.01	0.43	0.7554	3.27	1.49	0.3493	5.59	2.61	0.1233	2.35	0.42	0.3108	3.06	1.23	0.0192^*
	5	0.60	0.27	0.8600	1.33	0.53	0.6727	4.73	4.03	0.7115	0.67	0.33	0.8600	1.83	1.29	0.4454
LONU2	1	8.40	9.60	0.6247	10.06	9.50	0.8210	9.63	5.26	0.0839	4.87	1.62	0.1922	8.24	6.50	0.0657
	2	2.06	2.86	0.7440	6.07	6.33	0.9166	6.14	3.16	0.2308	0.63	0.40	0.9254	3.72	3.19	0.5479
	5	0.30	0.20	0.9674	2.37	1.43	0.7033	9.20	3.80	0.0353^*	0.17	0.00	0.9457	3.01	1.36	0.0796
LUAR3	1	7.66	6.28	0.0954	5.39	4.35	0.2064	6.33	1.09	>0.0001^*	2.38	0.52	0.0282^*	5.44	3.06	0.0001^*
	2	0.12	0.08	0.9533	0.22	0.29	0.9320	0.03	0.06	0.9690	0.04	0.08	0.9659	0.10	0.12	0.9592
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.03	0.03	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.01	0.01	1.0000
NIAT	1	0.16	0.03	0.2556	0.02	0.02	0.9749	0.78	0.12	>0.0001^*	0.46	0.13	0.0051^*	0.36	0.08	0.0008^*
	2	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.04	0.04	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.07	0.03	0.7013	0.03	0.02	0.8755
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000
PEPA6	1	0.25	0.11	0.6736	0.99	0.32	0.0566^*	0.66	0.05	0.0785	0.17	0.09	0.8137	0.52	0.14	0.0050^*
	2	0.01	0.00	0.9802	0.39	0.31	0.8233	0.07	0.12	0.8865	0.01	0.01	0.9950	0.12	0.11	0.9347
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.03	0.00	0.9209	0.03	0.00	0.9209	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.02	0.00	0.8842
POFE	1	0.39	0.35	0.8791	0.08	0.00	0.7611	0.75	0.02	0.0123^*	0.13	0.12	0.9636	0.34	0.12	0.0560^*
	2	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.16	0.08	0.7902	0.01	0.00	0.9697	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.04	0.02	0.8448
	5	0.03	0.00	0.9031	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.01	0.00	0.9376
SPGR2	1	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.21	0.11	0.7847	0.25	0.01	0.5328	0.39	0.03	0.3450	0.21	0.04	0.0380^*
	2	0.01	0.01	0.9984	0.04	0.03	0.9735	0.12	0.10	0.9646	0.15	0.19	0.9205	0.08	0.08	0.9766
	5	0.13	0.03	0.7904	0.13	0.27	0.7231	0.23	0.38	0.6903	1.17	1.37	0.5958	0.42	0.51	0.2279
THMI5	1	0.02	0.00	0.7965	0.00	0.01	0.8719	0.06	0.08	0.7718	0.05	0.04	0.8974	0.03	0.03	0.9625
	2	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.06	0.09	0.6293	0.10	0.06	0.5207	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.04	0.04	0.9065
	5	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.10	0.00	0.1308	0.00	0.00	1.0000	0.03	0.00	0.2699

↵Notes: P values derived from mixed model analysis of variance indicate significance of difference between treatment types. See Table 2 for abbreviation’s species name. C = covered treatment, NC = no cover treatment, year = post-treatment sampling year, boldface and * = significant.

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TABLE 4

Mean cover percentages in unseeded control plots by site, treatment, cover type, and time since treatment, including data from both temporal replications (initiated in 2009 and 2010).

Cover type	Year	Fountain Green			Gordon Creek			Hatch Ranch			Lookout Pass			All (mean)
Cover type	Year	C	NC	P	C	NC	P	C	NC	P	C	NC	P	C	NC	P
Annual weeds	1	18.29	7.78	0.1704	2.49	0.72	0.8483	21.78	18.40	0.6771	30.79	27.54	0.7040	18.53	14.05	0.1475
	2	19.10	26.14	0.2179	4.38	3.17	0.8315	21.18	12.56	0.1319	7.45	2.49	0.3993	13.03	11.33	0.4721
	5	7.23	7.59	0.9478	2.04	1.59	0.9331	6.00	2.38	0.5035	11.47	12.02	0.9196	6.69	5.89	0.7256
Cheatgrass (B. tectorum)	1	39.61	21.48	0.0076^*	0.10	0.27	0.9816	1.61	1.64	0.9959	25.04	6.99	0.0116^*	16.80	8.18	0.0041^*
	2	48.73	47.47	0.8597	0.72	0.12	0.9319	18.10	15.77	0.7434	65.86	37.74	0.0002^*	33.35	24.92	0.0085^*
	5	24.35	30.30	0.3770	0.08	0.08	0.9995	2.08	3.61	0.8209	34.44	41.35	0.3050	15.24	18.84	0.2450
Perennial grass	1	1.26	0.69	0.8951	10.65	8.14	0.4479	1.93	2.54	0.8446	8.47	8.82	0.9114	5.99	5.51	0.7857
	2	2.71	0.59	0.5092	20.72	19.33	0.6637	6.05	3.41	0.4097	11.40	15.06	0.2692	10.22	9.44	0.6965
	5	1.14	0.20	0.7578	30.96	34.02	0.3149	0.48	1.53	0.7308	2.93	1.97	0.7526	8.88	9.43	0.7119

↵Notes: P values derived from mixed model analysis of variance indicate significance of difference between treatment types. C = covered treatment, NC = no cover treatment, year = post-treatment sampling year, boldface and * = significant.