PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - D Terrance Booth
TI  - Establishing Wyoming Big Sagebrush Seed Orchards on Reclaimed Mined Land
AID  - 10.2979/NPJ.2005.6.3.247
DP  - 2005 Sep 21
TA  - Native Plants Journal
PG  - 247--253
VI  - 6
IP  - 3
4099  - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/6/3/247.short
4100  - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/6/3/247.full
SO  - NATIVE PLANTS JOURNAL2005 Sep 21; 6
AB  - Reclaimed mined lands often have restricted public access, a situation that could encourage sagebrush seed growers to invest in methods for increasing seed production and improving seed purity and quality. I tested the agronomic benefit of 2 seeding methods and fabric mulch and a cross-linked polyacrylamide polymer soil amendment by using these practices to establish 3 Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young [Asteraceae]) seed orchards on a reclaimed uranium mine in Wyoming’s Shirley Basin. Seed yield was monitored for 5 y. Cased-hole punch seeding (CHPS) produced more and faster growing plants than broadcasting. Seeds from plants established through mulch averaged 20 to 36 g (0.7 to 1.3 oz) per plant compared with less than 10 g (0.4 oz) per plant without mulch. Polyacrylamide-amended soil produced fewer seeds than untreated plots in every year of the study. Fabric mulch clearly enhanced sagebrush growth and seed yield; polyacrylamide did not.