Native Forbs and Restoration Technology
for the Great Basin
Nancy L. Shaw
Ann DeBolt
Robert Cox
USDA Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Research Station
Boise, ID
Boise RMRS Research Species
Penstemon - Beardtongue
• P. acuminatus – sand penstemon
• P. deustus – scabland penstemon
• P. speciosus – sagebrush penstemon
Eriogonum – Buckwheat
• E. umbellatum – sulfur-flower buckwheat
Lomatium - Biscuitroot
• L. grayi - Gray’s biscuitroot
• L. triternatum – nineleaf biscuitroot
• L. dissectum - fernleaf biscuitroot
Lomatium spp.
(Apiaceae)
¾ L. grayi
Gray’s biscuitroot
¾ L. triternatum
Nineleaf biscuitroot
¾ L. dissectum
Fernleaf biscuitroot
Lomatiums:
Seed Production Potential
¾ Upright species
¾ Seed production by year 2 or 3
¾ Seed ripens uniformly, fairly large
¾ Easily harvested and cleaned
L. grayi
¾ Good yield, stores well
¾ Pollinators - solitary bees
L. triternatum
Lomatium dissectum
Fernleaf biscuitroot
PLANTS.usda.gov
• Large perennial (to 5 ft) with large, thickened woody taproot
• Widespread on variable medium- to coarse-textured soils
• Grows at elevations from 60-2,600 m
• Early phenology, dries back in late spring - early summer
• Used by wildlife, sage-grouse, livestock
Fernleaf Biscuitroot:
Collections, Common Gardens, Genetics
Objective:
¾ Examine variation across the Great Basin
¾ 100+ collection sites
¾ Common gardens (2006):
> Wells, NV (44 accessions)
> Boise, ID (46 accessions)
> Corvallis, OR (12 accessions)
¾ Genetics:
Collaborative with USDA-ARS
Pullman, WA
Fernleaf Biscuitroot: Dormancy, Germination
and Field Establishment
M. Scholten, M. Serpe (BSU), N. Shaw
Objectives:
1. Characterize the nature of seed
dormancy.
2. Identify conditions required for
dormancy release and germination.
3. Determine the effect of environmental
conditions on embryo growth and
dormancy break.
Fernleaf Biscuitroot: Dormancy and Germination
Prechill Requirement
for Germination
Induction of Embryo Growth
100
10
Dry after-ripening
Warm-moist conditions
Cold stratification
80
Germination (%)
6
4
60
40
2
0
ol
20
contr
Embryo length (mm)
8
2 4 6
2 4 6
2 4 6 8 10 12 15
0
Exposure to treatment (weeks)
4
6
8
10
12
Cold Stratification (weeks)
14
16
Fernleaf Biscuitroot:
Field Germination and Future Research
Embryo Length (mm)
8
80
60
6
40
4
20
2
0
Soil temperature (C)
¾ Physiological basis for
dormancy break.
100
Embryo length
Germination
0
30
20
10
0
-10
Soil moisture (% water content)
promoted by soil temperatures
between 0 and 10oC.
10
20
10
7/1
/06
6/1
/06
5/1
/06
Date
4/1
/06
3/1
/06
2/1
/06
1/1
/06
0
12/
1/0
5
¾ Results will aid seed growers in
achieving more uniform stands
Germination (%)
¾ Embryo growth and germination
Seed Collections and Plant Materials
Great Basin Seed Collections:
1,460 for RMRS and UDWR (since 2001)
2006 Seed Collections (Boise)
167 Total
52 National Seed Laboratory
40 ARS Pullman
8 PNW – Corvallis, OR
Seed to growers included pooled sources for:
Lomatium dissectum
N. Basin & Range
P. speciosus
N. Basin & Range
Penstemon attenuatus Snake River Plain
P. deustus
Snake River Plain
Ecoregion:
12 Snake River Plain
80 N. Basin & Range
13 C. Basin & Range
Thurber’s Needlegrass
Achnatherum thurberianum
Source:
Orchard, Ada Co., ID
Proposed release
category:
Selected
Area of use:
Lower Snake River
Plain and adjacent
areas
Characteristics:
Persistent once
established
Other sources:
None
Sandberg Bluegrass (Poa secunda)
Source: Mountain Home, ID
Proposed release category:
Selected
Characteristics: Early green
up, good establishment
Area of use: Lower Snake River Plain
and adjacent areas
Other sources:
¾ Reliable, Yakima WA (ARS Logan)
¾ High Plains, WY (Bridger PMC)
¾ ARS Pullman – collecting westwide
Western Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Source:
Eagle, ID
Proposed release
category:
Selected
Characteristics:
Good establishment in ARTR
Area of use:
Foothills in southern Idaho and
adjacent areas
Other sources:
¾ Great Northern, Flathead Co., MT
(Bridger PMC)
¾ Yakima, WA (ARS Logan)
Crested Wheatgrass Diversification
Examine
CWG control (mechanical
and chemical)
Establishment of native species within
the stand
Questions
Species interactions:
> among seeded natives
> seeded natives and cheatgrass
> seeded natives and CWG
Competitive Dynamics Among Siberian Wheatgrass
and Native Forbs and Grasses
Jennifer Muscha, M. Haferkamp, N. Shaw, and L. Vermeire
USDA-ARS Fort Keogh LARRL, Miles City, MT & USDA-FS RMRS, Boise, ID
Objective
Examine interactions of native seed mixtures with
Siberian wheatgrass.
Species
Exotic grass
AGSI
Siberian Wheatgrass
Native grasses
ELEL
POSE
Squirreltail
Sandberg bluegrass
Native forbs
ACMI
PESP
Western yarrow
Sagebrush penstemon
Treatments:
A
20
18
16
14
C1 - AGSI (1 plant)
C2 - AGSI (2 plants)
E
- ELEL, ACMI, PESP
P
- POSE (2), ACMI, PESP
EC1 – E with 1 AGSI
EC2 – E with 2 AGSI
PC1 - P with 1 AGSI
PC2 - P with 2 AGSI
(g )
Bottlebrush
squirreltail
biomass
B
12
10
C
8
6
4
2
0
E
EC1
EC2
20
18
16
A
Sandburg
bluegrass
biomass
14
12
(g)
B B
10
8
6
4
2
0
Results:
45
A
P
PC1
PC2
A
A
40
B
35
B
B
8
B
7
30
AB
6
BC
25
(g )
5
(g )
20
C
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
BC BC
a
b
a
bc bc
c
0
0
C1
C2
EC1
EC2
PC1
E
PC2
Siberian wheatgrass biomass
t
ACMI
t
PESP
EC1
EC2
P
PC1
Forb biomass
PC2
Conclusions
ƒ ELEL growth > POSE
ƒ ACMI develops more rapidly
than PESP, begins developing
rhizomes in < 5 mo.
ƒ Although competitive effects
appear reciprocal, AGSI control
prior to seeding natives is
essential.
POSE
ELEL
PESP
ACMI
Competition Among Cheatgrass and Native Forbs and Grasses
H. Parkinson & C. Zabinski, Montana State University, N. Shaw
Greenhouse study objectives:
1. Compare relative growth rates of:
ERUM Sulfur flower buckwheat
LOM
Biscuitroot
MACA Hoary aster
PESP
Sagebrush penstemon
SPMU
Munro globemallow
2. Determine changes in forb growth when grown with:
ELEL
Bottlebrush squirreltail
POSE
Sandberg bluegrass
BRTE
Cheatgrass
Forb Biomass After 12 Weeks
Biomass, g
25
20
Hoary aster
4
2
0
ERUM
LOM
MACA PESP SPMU
a
ary
r
ste
t
troo
ow
al l
em
ob
Gl
on
tem
ns
Pe
Ho
cui
Bi s
t
hea
ckw
Bu
Gray’s Biscuitroot
Munro Globemallow Growth
with Neighbors (12 weeks)
30
Biomass, g
25
20
15
10
5
0
ALONE
W/BRTE
W/ELEL
Neighbor
W/POSE
Grown with
Sandberg
bluegrass (l)
Grown with
cheatgrass
Competitive Effects of Cheatgrass on
Selected Great Basin Forbs
Objectives:
1. Measure growth of 5 native forbs when growing with
cheatgrass planted at 5 different densities.
2. Examine variation in soil water depletion by forb species and
cheatgrass.
Forb Species
•
•
•
•
•
Western yarrow
Sulfur-flower buckwheat
Gray’s Biscuitroot
Sagebrush penstemon
Munroe globemallow
Cheatgrass densities:
• 0, 45, 90, 180 and 360 plants/m2
Reestablishing Diverse Native Communities
Mixtures desirable to:
¾ Conserve/reestablish
diversity
¾ Restore ecosystem
structure and function
¾ Resist invasives
Challenges
¾
Seeds shapes and sizes
¾ Seeding depths and rates
¾ Seedbed requirements
¾ Equipment needs and
modifications
¾ Species interactions
¾ Seeding sagebrush
Pale agoseris, Agoseris glauca
Landscape Scale Sagebrush Seedings
> Lack of success with aerial seeding
on Wyoming big sagebrush sites
> Lysne and Pellant (2004): 23 of 35
southern Idaho Wyoming big
sagebrush seedings failed
> Seeding success has been
obtained by pressing
the seed into the soil surface
Jarbidge Sagebrush
Seeder
Reestablishing Diverse Wyoming Big Sagebrush
Communities: Equipment and Techniques
R. Cox, N. Shaw, NRCS, BLM
1. Examine the ability two drills (Kemmerer
and Truax) to establish species mixes.
2. Compare establishment at two seeding
rates.
3. Examine the use of brillion packers
to plant sagebrush and other smallseeded species.
4. Compare establishment of weedy
species in areas seeded with each drill.
Study Sites
Two 2006 burns near Elko, NV
Treatments
Control (no drilling or seeding)
Kemmerer drill (no seed, low rate, high rate)
Truax drill (no seed, low rate, high rate)
Seed Mix
Drill mix
Fourwing saltbush
Blue flax
Munro globemallow
Bluebunch
wheatgrass
Bottlebrush
squirreltail
Indian ricegrass
Broadcast
Wyoming big sagebrush
Rubber rabbitbrush
Western yarrow
Sandberg bluegrass
Great Basin Native Plant Selection
and Increase Project website
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/research
¾ Cooperators
¾ Links
¾ Results
¾ Literature
Acknowledgments
¾USDI Bureau of Land Management, Great
Basin Restoration Initiative and Great Basin
States
¾Great Basin Native Plant Selection
and Increase Project Cooperators
¾Grassland, Shrubland and Desert Ecosystems
Program employees, Boise, ID and Provo, UT