Laserfiche WebLink
• <br />• <br />Predawn Leaf Water Potential <br />14.0 <br />..12.0 <br />y <br />R <br />10.0 <br />8.0-- <br />6.0-- <br />a. ?o <br />4.0-- <br />2.0-- <br />0.0 Irrigation No Irrigation Irrigation No Irrigation <br />Fabric Fabric No Fabric No Fabric <br />Figure 9. Predawn leaf water potential of aspen in response to landscape fabric and <br />irrigation. <br />Discussion and Conclusions <br />This study specifically addressed the issue of finding ways to successfully plant aspen <br />and serviceberry on reclaimed surface mines in high altitude semi-arid environments in <br />the western United States, but the experiment is applicable for reclamation nationwide. <br />Aspen and serviceberry have occupied many surface coal mine sites in the Western US <br />prior to mining operations. Because aspen and serviceberry reproduce by root suckering <br />and parent roots are disturbed in the mining process, sites must be reclaimed using potted <br />plants or transplants. Potted seedlings or transplanted root sprouts do not have an <br />extensive root system to access water and nutrients needed for establishment and rapid <br />growth. We conducted an experiment to test the use of commercially available tree and <br />shrub planting techniques to establish planted aspen and serviceberry on reclaimed coal <br />mine soils, and to compare growth and survival of the plants under the different irrigation <br />and landscape fabric treatments. We used commercial weed barrier landscape fabric <br />commonly placed on the ground by tractor-drawn machine. <br />0 It is apparent that after the first growing season of this experiment that survival and