Evaluation of Habitat Restoration on the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, Kern County, California

摘要

The habitat restoration program on Naval Petroleum Reserve number 1 (NPR-1) began with the revegetation of approximately 121 acres of disturbed lands in 1985 and continued in 1986 with the revegetation of an additional 112 acres. A revegetation monitoring program was developed and implemented in the spring of 1987 with the objectives of evaluating the success of the current program and providing needed information on techniques and methodologies. During the spring of 1987, 430 sites that had been revegetated in 1985 or 1986 were evaluated qualitatively. The amount of vegetative cover and plant density by species along with other quantitative information was taken at 100 of the revegetation sites. Soil samples were taken at each revegetation site and analyzed for salts and content of various elements of concern. Results of the sampling show 45% vegetative cover on sites revegetated in 1985 and 21% cover on 1986 sites. Composition of the total cover was primarily annual forbs and grasses (96% on 1985 sites and 98% on 1986 sites). Plant density was 30.2 plants/ft sup 2 on sites revegetated in 1985 and 16.4 plants/ft sup 2 on 1986 sites. Soil analysis reveals high amounts of salts and low organic matter content for many of the soils sampled. The only elements with levels considered to be in the toxic range were barium and molybdenum. 8 refs., 5 figs., 16 tabs. (ERA citation 13:020985)