Oil and gas production activities in western North Dakota increased the presence of anthropogenic surface salinity in the Northern Mixed Grass Prairie (NMGP). Oil-produced water (i.e. brine) is a regulated waste product of oil and gas extraction that can have salt, mostly sodium chloride, concentrations higher than natural saline seep formations. Accidental and deliberate discharges of brine can kill actively growing plants shortly after coming into contact with plant leaves and roots. Additionally, the loss of root structures and vegetative cover can leave soil susceptible to wind and water erosion. Salt tolerant plant species, i.e. halophytes, are capable of completing their life cycle in salt-rich environments and may be suitable candidates to revegetate brine spill sites or stabilize and minimize the expansion of brine plumes. The objective of this greenhouse study was to determine brine thresholds of nine plant species at five brine-derived soil electrical conductivities (EC) and two different growth stages. The experiment was conducted on nine plants species native to the NMGP, with the exception of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). Brine was diluted with distilled water to create five (2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 dS m^-1) soil EC's, with no added brine as the control, and applied it to five pots per EC treatment in a loam soil. Plant survival was determined by examining visual indicators in plant leaves, which is essential to maintain plant structure and function. Thirty days after brine application, survival and biomass data was collected on greenhouse plants and analyzed with regression to examine EC thresholds. Data from the analysis will determine species thresholds on a brine contaminated gradient.
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