Plant Sciences Commons^™

Dungpat Microenvironmental Effects On Germination And Establishment Of Crested Wheatgrass, Ghulam Akbar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Complementary greenhouse and field studies investigated the effects of ambient environmental conditions on cattle dungpat moisture, temperature, nutrient concentration, and crust formation dynamics, which in turn influence seed germination and seedling establishment in dungpats. 'Hycrest' crested wheatgrass [Agropyron desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) X A. cristatum (L.) Gaert.] was used as a representative revegetation species.

After collecting feces from Holstein steers that had been fed crested wheatgrass seeds, uniform dungpats were prepared and placed on two soil types (loam and coarse sand) in containers under three watering treatments (field capacity, 1/2 field capacity, and no water) in the greenhouse. Dungpat …

Competitive Interaction Between Crested Wheatgrasses And Cheatgrass, Mark G. Francis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Current revegetation practices in the lntermountain West include the use of Nordan (Agropyron desertorum) and Hycrest (A. cristatum x desertorum) crested wheatgrass on rangeland susceptible to cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion, although little quantitative data exists that compares their competitive abilities. We evaluated both the competitive ability of Hycrest and Nordan in two-species mixtures with cheatgrass, and evaluated seedling establishment characteristics for all three species in a greenhouse study. Linear and nonlinear models were developed for a range of densities for each species to predict median above-ground biomass and tiller numbers. In both experiments, increasing …

Plant Succession Studies On Subalpine Acid Mine Spoils In The Beartooth Mountains, Patricia Lea Howard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Large areas within alpine and subalpine tundra have been by disturbed by mining during this century. The most promising method for retarding deterioration of these areas is revegetation with native species through both seeding and transplants. One natural process of revegetation which occurs on portions of many existing disturbances seems to be the establishment of a few species that expand with time to form matts of plants.

At the McLaren Mine, located at 3000 m elevation in the Beartooth Mountains, Montana, active succession is occurring and is dominated by Carex species. Seed viability and successional patterns studies were conducted on …