Efficacy of strip seeding to restore grassland plant communities

• DOI: 10.1111/rec.13822
• Publication Date: 2022-11-02T03:59:30Z
• Authors: Julea A. Shaw; Leslie M. Roche; Elise S. Gornish; Andrew P. Rayburn; Aubrianne J. Zamora; Emilio Laca
• Keywords: Buffer strip; Native plant

Strip seeding is a novel restoration practice of strategically planting in strips, resulting alternating seeded and unseeded areas to target efforts reduce costs while achieving ecological outcomes similar conventional methods entire sites. However, there has been limited work testing the efficacy this method, including how strip width percent area affect outcomes. We evaluated four native grass seed treatments (33%, 50% narrow, wide, 66% seeded), an control, 100% control investigate: (1) plant communities strips change over time; (2) initial species biomass, invasive diversity; (3) cost‐effectiveness terms management benefits accrued. Four years post‐seeding, exhibited unique communities; were characterized by perennial grasses had higher abundance annual forbs (majority non‐native) non‐native grasses. Plant within across treatments. Invasion resistance productivity scaled with initially seeded, but year all (33–66%) provided (100%). Overall, suggests promising, cost‐effective method restore targeted maintain grassland communities. Further research needed on long‐term effects, economic barriers opportunities, provisioning broad suite ecosystem services different environmental contexts practices.