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Saltcedar Ecology Collaborators/Partners CIPM, Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund, Montana State University, Patricia Gilbert (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Peck), Scott Bockness (Yellowstone County Weed Coordinator) and Jennifer Cramer (Treasure County Weed Coordinator). Project Summary Saltcedar Monitoring and Research. Restoration of many saltcedar invaded areas in the Missouri River Watershed have had minimal success. Part of the reason for this may be that there is little information regarding saltcedar ecology in its northern range. Also, baseline data regarding the status of the invaded plant community and the chemistry of the soil is seldom collected prior to saltcedar removal. Successful restoration can’t be expected, without knowledge of saltcedar and riparian community ecology. Such knowledge includes understanding factors related to saltcedar seedling emergence, river flow conditions promoting establishment, alterations to soil chemistry and soil biota, vegetation present at invaded and un-invaded sites and vegetation response to saltcedar removal. Based on this need for information, several research investigations have been or are being performed by the Center for Invasive Plant Management (CIPM) and Montana State University (MSU). • Evaluating seedling emergence and flow conditions promoting establishment. Researchers at MSU, funded by a grant from the Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund (NWTF), investigated saltcedar seed viability and emergence in the MSU Plant Growth Center (PGC) under a range of storage temperatures and times. Results indicated that warmer temperatures reduce saltcedar seed viability, but seeds can remain viable for greater than 6 months at cooler storage temperatures. The research also looked at the age of saltcedar trees (based on analysis of tree rings) on the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers and Fort Peck Reservoir in an attempt to correlate establishment year with historical flow events or reservoir levels. Along the rivers, there was no relationship between establishment and flow, indicating that saltcedar establishes equally well under many flow conditions. At Fort Peck Reservoir, establishment was related to declining water level, and a rising water level led to population mortality. The results of this research have been synthesized into a publication and submitted to the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management. • Assessing plant community and soil characteristics after saltcedar invasion and treatment. The CIPM received a NWTF grant to conduct a research investigation focusing on saltcedar invaded sites along the Yellowstone and Big Horn Rivers and Fort Peck Reservoir. In this research project, CIPM obtained valuable information on soil characteristics (specifically salt accumulation) of saltcedar invaded sites, as well as knowledge of plant community recovery after treatment and removal of saltcedar. This research will assist in future saltcedar treatment projects by helping land managers understand and predict what vegetation will occupy the site subsequent to saltcedar treatment, and by providing soil information which will assist in future selection of species for revegetation. The results of this research are currently being synthesized for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. • Assessment of saltcedar effects on mycorrhizae. Through another grant by the NWTF, greenhouse studies will be conducted by researchers at MSU to evaluate the effects of saltcedar on mycorrhizae (beneficial plant root-fungi interactions in which fungi obtain carbon from plants and in turn, through their extensive hyphae network, assist plants in obtaining water and nutrients). Saltcedar reportedly degrades the mycorrhizal fungal community in soil, which may make restoration of mycorrhizae-dependent species difficult. Research will be conducted in the PGC using soil collected from saltcedar invaded sites and adjacent un-invaded sites on the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers and Fort Peck Reservoir. Plants that are known to readily form mycorrhizae will be grown in the different soils. After approximately 5 weeks of growth, the roots of the plants will be examined to determine if they formed mycorrhizae. Results will allow researchers to determine how saltcedar affects mycorrhizae, and this information will facilitate restoration efforts. • Screening plants for site restoration Through the above NWTF grant, additional studies will be conducted by researchers at MSU in the summer of 2010 to determine what vegetation is suitable for restoration of saltcedar degraded sites. Saltcedar impacted soil from field sites will be used as the growth medium, and several grasses, sedges and forbs will be screened to determine which perform best. Results will be used to develop recommendations for species to plant for restoration. |
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