Plant Community Development in a Dryland CREP in Northeastern Oregon

Abstract

Riparian areas in dryland crop regions of the Intermountain Pacific Northwest have largely been converted to cropland or pasture during the last 140 years. Some formerly cultivated floodplains have become difficult to farm; enrollment of these lands into conservation programs provides the opportunity to use them as wildlife habitat and as buffer areas near streams. Our objective was to evaluate plant community development on an USDA Conservation Reserve Enhan- cement Program site in northeastern Oregon from when the plant was planted in 1999 through 2008. The research was designed as a descriptive study. We established permanent line-transects to quantify vegetation establishment and changes in species composition through time. We collected data in 2000-2001 and 2007-2008. Vegetation cover in 2000-2001 was 100%, dominated by tall wheatgrass. Living plant material cover decreased from 98% in 2000-2001 to 33% in 2007 and 68% in 2008; dead plant residue significantly increased and tall wheatgrass cover decreased. Native species were present in similar percentages from 2000 to 2008, although there was a shift from target to nontarget species. The 1999 seeding can be judged a success because of the ground cover provided and the establishment of one target species, tall wheatgrass. However, the increased ratio of dead to living plant material and shift to non-target annual weed species suggests that more active management (i.e., fire, grazing, or mowing) of the tall wheatgrass stand is needed to maintain its productivity and/or a healthy mix of multiple species.

Share and Cite:

J. Williams, H. Hartman, L. Spencer and J. Loiland, "Plant Community Development in a Dryland CREP in Northeastern Oregon," American Journal of Plant Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 6, 2011, pp. 744-752. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2011.26089.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] R. T. T. Forman, “Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions,” Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York, 1995.
[2] R. A. Pearce, M. J. Trlica, W. C. Leininger, D. E. Mergen and G. W. Frasier, “Sediment Movement through Riparian Vegetation under Simulated Rainfall and Overland Flow,” Journal of Range Management, Vol. 51, No. 3, 1998, pp. 301-308. doi:10.2307/4003415
[3] S. G. Baer, D. M. Engle, J. M. H. Knops, K. A. Langeland, B. D. Maxwell, F. D. Menalled and A. J. Symstad, “Vulnerability of Rehabilitated Agricultural Production Systems to Invasion by Nontarget Plant Species,” Environmental Management, Vol. 43, No. 2, 2008, pp. 189-196. doi:10.1007/s00267-008-9167-6
[4] S. J. Bennett, T. Pirim and B. D. Barkdoll, “Using Simulated Emergent Vegetation to Alter Stream Flow Direction within a Straight Experimental Channel,” Geomorphology, Vol. 44, No. 1-2, 2002, pp. 115-126. doi:10.1016/S0169-555X(01)00148-9
[5] D. Corenblit, E. Tabacchi, J. Steiger and A. M. Gurnell, “Reciprocal Interactions and Adjustments between Fluvial Landforms and Vegetation Dynamics in River Corridors: A Review of Complementary Approaches,” EarthScience Reviews, Vol. 84, No. 1-2, 2007, pp. 56-86. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.05.004
[6] J. B. Kauffman and W. C. Krueger, “Livestock Impacts on Riparian Ecosystems and Streamside Management Implications: A Review,” Journal of Range Management, Vol. 37, No. 5, 1984, pp. 430-438. doi:10.2307/3899631
[7] F. L. Knopf, R. R. Johnson, T. Rich, F. B. Samson and R. C. Szaro, “Conservation of Riparian Ecosystems in the United States,” Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 100, No. 2, 1988, pp. 272-284.
[8] S. V. Gregory, F. J. Swanson, W. A. McKee and K. W. Cummins, “An Ecosystem Perspective of Riparian Zones,” BioScience, Vol. 41, No. 8, 1991, pp. 540-551. doi:10.2307/1311607
[9] A. C. McGregor, “Counting Sheep: From Open Range to Agribusiness on the Columbia Plateau,” University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, 1982.
[10] A. Simon and A. J. C. Collison, “Pore-Water Pressure Effects on the Detachment of Cohesive Streambeds: Seepage Forces and Matric Suction,” Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 26, No. 13, 2001, pp. 1421-1442. doi:10.1002/esp.287
[11] D. W. Rassam, C. S. Fellows, R. D. Hayr, H. Hunter and P. Bloesch, “The Hydrology of Riparian Buffer Zones; Two Case Studies in an Ephemeral and a Perennial Stream,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 325, No. 1-4, 2006, pp. 308-324. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.10.023
[12] N. Jordan, G. Boody, W. Broussard, J. D. Glover, D. Keeney, B. H. McCown, G. McIsaac, M. Muller, H. Murray, J. Neal, C. Pansing, R. E. Turner, K. Warner and D. Wyse, “Environment: Sustainable Development of the Agricultural Bio-Economy,” Science, Vol. 316, No. 5831, 2007, pp. 1570-1571. doi:10.1126/science.1141700
[13] A. D. Bradshaw, “Underlying Principles of Restoration,” Canadian Journal of Aquatic Science, Vol. 53, Supplement 1, 1996, pp. 3-9.
[14] J. B. Kauffman, R. L. Beschta, N. Otting and D. Lytjen, “An Ecological Perspective of Riparian and Stream Restoration in the Western United States,” US Fisheries, Vol. 22, No. 5, 1997, pp. 12-24. doi:10.1577/1548-8446(1997)022<0012:AEPORA>2.0.CO;2
[15] K. F. Millenbah, S. R. Winterstein, H. Campa III, L. T. Furrow and R. B. Minnis, “Effects of Conservation Reserve Program Field Age on Avian Relative Abundance, Diversity, and Productivity,” Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 108, No. 4, 1996, pp. 760-770.
[16] K. C. Greenfield, M. J. Chamberlain, J. Bruger, L. Wes and E. W. Kurzejeski, “Effects of Burning and Discing Conservation Reserve Program Fields to Improve Habitat Quality for Northern Bobwhite (Colinus Virginianus),” American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 149, No. 2, 2003, pp. 344-353. doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2003)149[0344:EOBADC]2.0.CO;2
[17] C. J. Smith, “Evaluation of CREP Riparian Buffers in Washington State. Prepared for Washington State Conservation Commission,” Washington State Conservation Commission Board Members, Washington, 2006, p. 61.
[18] D. R. Johnson and A. J. Makinson, “Soil Survey of Umatilla County area, Oregon,” USDA—Soil Conservation Service, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1988.
[19] C. D. Bonham, “Measurements for Terrestrial Vegetation,” John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1989.
[20] R. H. Green, “Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for Environmental Biologists,” John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1979.
[21] SAS, SAS/STAT 9.2 User’s Guide. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, 2008.
[22] A. R. Ives and S. R. Carpenter, “Stability and Diversity of Ecosystems,” Science, Vol. 317, No. 5834, 2007, pp. 58-62. doi:10.1126/science.1133258
[23] J. McIver and L. Starr, “Restoration of Degraded Lands in the Interior Columbia River Basin: Passive vs. Active Approaches,” Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 153, No. 1-3, 2001, pp. 15-28. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00451-0
[24] R. D. Harmel, C. T. Haan and R. Dutnell, “Bank Erosion and Riparian Vegetation Influences: Upper Illinoies River, Oklahoma,” Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Vol. 42, No. 5, 1999, pp. 1321-1330.
[25] K. Gran and C. Paola, “Riparian Vegetation Controls on Braided Stream Dynamics,” Water Resource Research, Vol. 37, No. 12, 2001, pp. 3275-3283. doi:10.1029/2000WR000203
[26] Z. O. Toledo and J. B. Kauffman, “Root Biomass in Relation to Channel Morphology of Headwater Streams,” Journal of the American Water Resources Association, Vol. 37, No. 6, 2001, pp. 1653-1663. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.2001.tb03667.x
[27] T. L. Napier, “Grain Scarcity: A New Era for Conservation Policies and Programs,” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 64, No. 1, 2009, pp. 7A-10A. doi:10.2489/jswc.64.1.7A

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.