Limitations to post-fire seedling establishment

Jeremy James and Tony Svejcar

• Seeding following fire is critical tool for soil stabilization and preventing weed spread

• Tens of millions of dollars are spent on seeding each year

• Seed success rates are extremely low on arid rangeland

• Reasons for low success rates are poorly understood

Background

• Following four fires, plots were seeded with a rangeland drill or by hand, and

• Some plots also were weeded and watered

Project outline

Four fire complexes in southeastern Oregon

Egley

Bartlett Roundtop

Butte

Native grasses and forbs recovered following all four fires

Establishment was 3-fold higher in plots where seeds were planted by hand

Weeding or watering plots did not increase establishment

0

3

6

9

12

Seed

ling

dens

ity (

plan

ts /

10 ft

2 )

• Need techniques to determine if post-fire reseeding is really necessary

• We cannot assume more precipitation or fewer weeds will improve reseeding success

• Seeding technology remains a major limitation to our ability to restore rangeland

Conclusion

• This project is part of a larger effort by ARS Burns, OR to improve seedling establishment in rangeland restoration efforts

Project information

For more information contactJeremy James

541-573-8911 (jeremy.james @oregonstate.edu)Tony Svejcar

541-573-8901 (tony.svejcar@ oregonstate.edu)