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2000 Billings Land Reclamation Symposium <br />ENHANCING WYOMING BIG SAGEBRUSH ESTABLISHMENT WITH CULTURAL <br />PRACTICES <br />G. E. Schuman' , D.T. Booth', R.A. Olson' <br />ABSTRACT <br />Wyoming big sagebrush has proven difficult to re- establish by direct seeding on mined <br />lands in the western U.S. This paper reviews research accomplishments over the last decade that <br />address ecological and cultural practices to enhance big sagebrush establishment. Direct - placed <br />topsoil, mulching and arbuscular mycorrhizae have been shown to positively influence seedling <br />establishment of this species on mined land. Direct - placed topsoil possesses better biological, <br />physical, and chemical characteristics that are conducive to plant establishment. Direct - placed <br />topsoil has greater water storage capacity, better soil physical properties, and higher levels of <br />mycorrhizal inoculum. Mycorrhizae has in turn been shown to give the seedlings greater drought <br />stress tolerance. Forty-five day old sagebrush seedlings that were mycorrhizal were able to survive <br />in soils at -3.2 MPa of moisture stress compared to -2.8 MPa for those that were not infected. <br />Regardless of sagebrush seedling age, no non - mycorrhizal seedlings survived in soils with water <br />potentials less than -3.3 MPa compared with mycorrhizal seedlings that survived in soils as dry as - <br />3.7 MPa. Mulch is believed to produce micro - climate changes in the seedbed area that provides <br />"safe- sites" that result in more optimum conditions for sagebrush germination and establishment. <br />Grass seeded concurrently with sagebrush creates significant competition and has reduced <br />sagebrush seedling establishment. The use of a more easily established shrub species (Atriplex <br />cansescens) as a "pioneer" plant has not shown any beneficial or "exclusionary" effects on <br />Wyoming big sagebrush establishment. Direct - placed topsoil has not shown benefits as a source of <br />sagebrush propagules. Ten -year old reclaimed lands seeded with multiple shrub species had higher <br />canopy cover, density, and diversity than sites where the seed mixture included only a single shrub <br />species. These recent findings are being incorporated into direct seeding technology by the mining <br />industry; however, some questions remain unanswered. These technology advances will not <br />ensure seedling establishment but will greatly enhance the probability of success in arid and <br />semiarid environments. <br />'USDA, ARS, High Plains Grasslands Res. Stn., 8408 Hildreth Rd., Cheyenne, WY 82009 <br />'Dept. Renewable Resources, University of Wyoming, P.O. Box 3354, Laramie, WY 82072 <br />