IMPROVED CULTIVAR RESILIENCY TO STRYKER TRAINING AT YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, YAKIMA, WASHINGTON

摘要

The Department of Defense must constantly balance its military mission and its commitment to stewardship on large tracts of federal land. These military training lands are some of the most intensely used lands in the United States, and training requires that vegetation, primarily grasses, be as resilient as possible. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of light to heavy wheeled vehicles on soil and our own improved SERDP-selected cultivars versus their market competitors caused by one and four passes of a Stryker at the Yakima Training Center, Yakima, Washington. Data collected includes soil compaction, shear strength, soil moisture, rut depth, plant stand (before and after tracking), and plant recovery. Results indicate that soil compaction and shear strength significantly decreased as tracking intensity increased. Two of our improved cultivars (Vavilov II Siberian wheatgrass (Agropyron fragile (Roth)) and snake river wheatgrass (Elymus waeawaiensis ined)) were significantly more resilient to trafficking than their commercial counterparts.