How do we effectively rehabilitate land degraded by biological invasions? Many riparian areas on the Yellowstone River have converted to dense Russian olive stands, reducing agricultural value of these lands. To test if restoration is effective and necessary, Russian olive trees were removed from a 2 ha site along the Yellowstone River in 2011, and a restoration planted in 2012. Four replicate 0.5 ha blocks were randomly allocated to one of 5 treatments; C -no re-vegetation, H - seeded herbaceous layer, S- herbaceous layer with planted shrubs, T- herbaceous layer with planted trees, and TS - herbaceous layer with planted trees and shrubs. The herbaceous seeding consisted of 4 grasses and 10 forbs and was broadcast seeded on the ground. Four shrubs and/or four tree species were planted in the S, T, and TS treatments. Canopy cover was measured in 2010 before Russian olive removal and in 2012-2015. Non-native forb cover was over 3 times lower in 2015 (11�2.5%) compared to the highest cover in 2013 (37�2.5%). In 2015, the T treatment plots had the lowest non-native forb cover (4�6%) and the TS treatment had the highest cover (20�6%). Annual brome cover was highest in 2010 (32%�3%), lowest in 2012 (15%�3%), and similar in years 2013-2015 (avg. 23%�3%). Seeded herbaceous species established with cover 8 times higher in 2015 (44�2%) than 2012 (5.5�2%). After just four years since active restoration, the herbaceous seeding with planted shrubs had the lowest cover of annual bromes (14�3%) and highest cover of seeded herbaceous species (33�2%). Nine of the 14 species seeded germinated in over 80% of the treatment sub-plots. Seeded herbaceous species cover is continuing to increase over time but we feel it might be too early to make a definitive conclusion on the impact in reducing non-native species invasions.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.