Repository logo
 

Development of a sagebrush steppe plant community 33 years after surface disturbance

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorBowles, Brock, author
dc.contributor.authorPaschke, Mark, advisor
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Cynthia, committee member
dc.contributor.authorMeiman, Paul J., committee member
dc.coverage.spatialPiceance Creek Basin (Colo.)
dc.coverage.spatialNorth America
dc.coverage.temporal1976
dc.coverage.temporal2008-2009
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T05:13:53Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T05:13:53Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractThe sagebrush steppe ecosystem is the most endangered ecosystem in North America due to sagebrush eradication, weed invasions and energy development. Restoration of sagebrush steppe plant communities damaged by these disturbances is extremely important to the survival of endangered or threatened sagebrush dependant species such as the sage-grouse and Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit. In the fall of 1976 a field experiment was initiated in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado to study the effects of six seed mixes and three fertilizer treatments on the restoration of a sagebrush steppe plant community after surface disturbances associated with oil shale development. We revisited these study plots during 2008 and 2009 to determine the long-term effects of these treatments on plant community development. Results from this 33-year study indicate that seed mix has long-term effects on the plant community production and composition. The composition of the plant community in all seeded plots was very similar to that of the seed mix used in 1976. The late-seral dominant shrub species in this system, sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), which was not seeded in any of the treatments, did not recover as the dominant shrub species. An initial fertilizer treatment had short-term effects on the plant community but its effects have become insignificant over time. A seed mix containing native species with no fertilizer addition appears to be the best long-term treatment for restoring a native sagebrush steppe plant community in this study.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierBowles_colostate_0053N_10265.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/47304
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectseedmix
dc.subjectfertilizer
dc.subjectPiceance
dc.subjectplant community
dc.subjectrestoration
dc.subjectsagebrush
dc.titleDevelopment of a sagebrush steppe plant community 33 years after surface disturbance
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineForest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Bowles_colostate_0053N_10265.pdf
Size:
665.57 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

2000-2019
Theses and Dissertations