Macoupin County Revegetation Research: Preliminary Progress Report for the 1977 Growing Season

摘要

The revegetation research plots at the Macoupin County site were established to provide input towards determining the most cost-effective means of achieving long-term revegetation success on highly acid (pH approx. 2.2) gob material. The three major parameters being evaluated in this study are the minimal depth of suitable plant growth material required, minimal amount of lime required, and appropriate plant species to seed. Lime was applied to the gob material and mixed to a depth of about 6 to 8 inches prior to the placement of the cover material. After placement, the cover material was limed at a rate of 5 tons/acre, fertilized, and disced. All treatments were seeded on April 27, 1977; the seed mixture and application rates are listed in a table. Permanent 0.25 m exp 2 quadrats, two replicates per species, were constructed at the edge of the B plots and hand seeded with 100 seeds to establish monocultures of each seed-mixture species. The quadrats were used to determine field germination rates and to aid in identifying seed-mixture components. Analyses of the data collected to date are insufficent to allow a thorough discussion concerning the revegetation research plots. The species that were planted seem to occur throughout the plots with the exception of perhaps two, reed canarygrass and Tioga deertongue, which are more sparse. The first year's plant production and cover were dominated by annual weeds with only minor contributions from the planted species. Time will tell if the planted perennials will continue to grow and drastically reduce the populations of the annual weed species. (ERA citation 04:027876)