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Intermountain
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Research Note

Long-term Survival
of 20 Selected Plant
Accessions in a Rush
Valley, Utah, Planting

INT-403

May 1992

nes

UAS Rosemary L. Pendleton
mye Neil C. Frischknecht

E. Durant McArthur

Abstract—Fifty-two plants each of 20 plant accessions

were transplanted onto a salt-desert shrub site in Rush
Valley, UT. Nine of the 20 kinds of plants; five accessions
(four species) of Atriplex, two varieties of Kochia prostrata,
Sarcobatus vermiculatus, and one species of Yucca, showed
generally good survival (>60 percent) through the first

6 years following planting. Only K. prostrata and S. ver-
miculatus showed good survival for the full 12-year period.
Large grasshopper populations, a high water table, and
other factors likely contributed to shrub mortality during
the 1984-89 period. By 1989, seedlings of both varieties
of K. prostrata had spread throughout the exclosure, up

to 5 meters from the original planting area. No plants
were observed beyond the disked fire line surrounding

the exclosure.

Keywords: Kochia prostrata, revegetation, ecological
adaptation, salt desert

Salt desert shrub communities occupy 15-17
million ha in the Intermountain West (Branson
and others 1967, West 1983). In recent years, an

~~ increase in. wildfire frequency and subsequent
; ‘conversion to fire-climax annuals, coupled with

historic abuse and increased human disturbance
have made revegetation efforts on salt desert shrub
sites increasingly important (McArthur and others

f 1979; Whisenant 1990). In the 1970's, a series of
- Gntplantines were established as part of a mine-

land reclamation research project for arid and
semiarid lands (Frischknecht and Ferguson 1979).
One such planting, made in Rush Valley, UT, was
designed to determine adaptability of transplanted
shrub species to a site where the mean annual pre-
cipitation is less than 25 cm and to compare growth

Rosemary L. Pendleton is ecologist; Neil C. Frischknecht was
supervisory range scientist and team leader (now deceased); E. Durant
McArthur is chief research geneticist and project leader, all at the
Intermountain Research Station, located at the Shrub Sciences Laboratory,
Provo, UT.

and survival of the transplants at different shrub
densities. This note documents the performance
of the shrub transplants over a 12-year period.

METHODS

The study plots were located in the northeastern
corner of an existing livestock-proof exclosure in
Rush Valley, about 80 km west of Provo, UT. Native
vegetation at the site consists of a mosaic of Cera-
toides lanata and Atriplex falcata. The ecological
site is identified as Desert Silt Flat by the Soil
Conservation Service. Soils consist of a slightly
saline surface layer underlain by fine sandy loam
or silt loam soils of the Tooele fine sandy loam
series. On-site precipitation measured by a stan-
dard precipitation gauge averaged 23.4 cm for the
10-year period 1960-69 (table 1).

In the late fall of 1976, an area 33 by 15 m was
cleared of vegetation to make room for 80 plots, each
1.5 by 3.0m. Seed of 20 selected accessions repre-
senting 17 species (table 2) were grown in containers
in the greenhouse during the winter of 1976-77 and
transplanted to the field in early May 1977. Taxo-
nomic treatment of the plants mainly follows Welsh
and others (1987) except the treatment for Atriplex
is supplemented by Hanson (1962) and Stutz and
others (1979); the treatment for Ceratoides follows
Grubov (1976); that for Camphorosma follows
Shishkin (1936); and that for Kochia follows Balyan
(1972). The study was established in a randomized
block, split-plot design. Species were assigned to
plots at random (fig. 1). In two of the four blocks,
plants were spaced 76 cm apart in each direction,
making a total of eight plants per plot. In the other
two blocks, plants were spaced 51 cm apart in each
direction, making a total of 18 plants per plot. Plants
were given a small amount of water at planting.

Table 1—Precipitation data (inches) for the Rush Valley exclosures 1960-69. A correlation
estimate of U.S. Weather Bureau data was used for Rush Valley for 1960. Thereafter
data were taken from a standard precipitation gauge located at the study site

Year Jan.-Mar. Apr.-June July-Sept. Oct.-Dec. Total
1960 2.91 1.14 1.14 2.28 7.47
1961 1.46 .87 3.82 3.07 9.22
1962 2.13 3.23 1.14 .38 6.89
1963 2a 3°35 Ue} 23 9.38
1964 1.85 4.57 59 2.72 9.73
1965 1.26 3:35 5.12 1.50 11.23
1966 1.38 1.02 1.93 2.01 6.34
1967 Wecéa/ 5.79 1.65 63 9.84
1968 2.72 2.87 3.46 2.40 11.45
1969 2.24 2.91 3.19 2.48 10.82

Mean 1.99 2.91 2.38 1.96 9.24

Table 2—Species list and seed sources for the Rush Valley planting

Code Species Source
ARNO Artemisia nova A. Nels. unknown
ARPY Artemisia pygmaea Gray Uinta Basin, UT
ARTR Artemisia tridentata Nutt. Uinta Basin, UT
ATBO Atriplex bonnevillensis C. A. Hanson Millard Co., UT
ATCA Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt. unknown
ATOB' Atriplex obovata Moq. San Juan Co., UT
ATTR1 Atriplex tridentata (Kuntze) H. & C. Tooele Co., UT
ATTR2' Atriplex tridentata (Kuntze) H. & C. Uinta Basin, UT
CAMO Camphorosma monspieliensis L.? USSR
CELA Ceratoides lanata (Pursh) Howell Uinta Basin, UT
CEPA Ceratoides papposa (Pers.) Butsch. & Ikonn.° USSR
CHNA Chrysothamnus nauseosus (Pallas) Britt. unknown
EPNE Ephedra nevadensis Wats. Millard Co., UT
GRSP Grayia spinosa (Hook.) Mog. Uinta Basin, UT
KOPRGR Kochia prostrata ssp. grisea Prat.? USSR
KOPRVI Kochia prostrata L. ssp. virescens (Frenzl) Prat.? USSR
SAVE Sarcobatus vermiculatus (Hook.) Torr. unknown
SPCO Sphaeralcea coccinea (Nutt.) Rydb. unknown
SPSA Sphaerophysa salsula (Palas) DC.° unknown

YUSP Yucca spp. Washington Co., UT

‘Planted August 1977.
2Nonnative.
?Nonnative but adventive.

Data on survival and growth were obtained at annuals for two randomly chosen plots in each -
the end of the first growing season and yearly vertical row (fig. 1), making a total of 20 quad-
thereafter, up to and including 1983, for a total of rats. Precipitation data for the years 1981-89 were
7 years. The plots were revisited in 1989 and 1990, obtained from rain gauges located a few miles north
and height and crown diameter measurements of of the study exclosure at the Tooele Army Depot,
the surviving plants were recorded. Cover data South Area. Survival data were analyzed by
(Daubenmire 1959), using 1-m? quadrats, were ANOVA using SAS for the personal computer (SAS
taken on volunteer kochia plants and invading Institute Inc. 1988).

Ea

save | aro [arta ouna | seco | anvo | sesa | cua | arras | seco |
cers

SAVE ARPY_ | KOPRVI CEPA ATOB
A

SPSA_ | KOPRGR
KOPRVI | _¥ ARPY eae

CHNA

CEPA

YUSP

Figure 1—Plot map of the Rush Valley planting. Plants on the west half are
spaced 20 inches apart; those on the east half are 30 inches apart.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Significant differences in survival were observed
among accessions (p = 0.0001). Planting density had
no effect on survival (p > 0.50). Heaviest early mor-
tality was observed in Artemisia pygmaea, Chryso-
thamnus nauseosus, and Sphaerophysa salsula
(table 3). Other species showing heavy mortality
were Sphaeralcea coccinea, Ephedra nevadensis
Grayia spinosa, Artemisia tridentata, and A. nova.
Nine of the 20 kinds of plants showed generally good
survival (>60 percent) on this site through the first
6 years following planting, including both varieties
of Kochia prostrata (92-96 percent), Sarcobatus
vermiculatus (90 percent), Atriplex bonnevillensis
(79 percent), A. canescens (63 percent), two acces-
sions of A. tridentata (62-88 percent), and A. obovata
(77 percent). Eight of the nine adaptive accessions
were chenopods.

Between 1983 and 1989, substantial mortality
occurred in all species (table 3). The years 1983-85
correspond to a period of heavy shrub mortality
throughout the Great Basin region (Nelson and
others 1989; Wallace and Nelson 1990). Many of the
native Atriplex stands in Rush Valley experienced
high levels of die-off (Dobrowolski and Ewing 1990).
Unlike previous events, this die-off was coincident

with record high precipitation (Wallace and Nelson
1990) (fig. 2). The symptoms, which include high
rootlet mortality and wilt symptoms of aboveground
parts, were linked to a raised water table and sub-
sequent buildup of pathogenic fungi (D. L. Nelson
and others 1990; Wallace and Nelson 1990; Weber
and others 1990).

Insect predation may also have contributed to
plant stress during this period (Nelson and others
1989; Haws and others 1990; C. R. Nelson and
others 1990). A large-scale grasshopper epidemic
occurred in parts of Utah during 1984 and 1985
(Hills and Davidson 1984; Nelson and others 1989).
We observed a high density of these insects on our
plots during both years. Numbers of Atriplex plants
in this study and in adjacent plots were completely
stripped of leaves for 2 years in a row.

Precipitation in the years from 1987 to 1990 was
well below normal (fig. 2). The extended drought,
grasshopper plague, and years of anaerobic and
saline soil conditions coupled with increased levels
of pathogenic fungi combined to create a rigorous
test of survivability of the transplanted species.
Plants managing to survive and reproduce during
this period should be capable of long-term persis-
tence on the site.

hes)

INC

tation (i

ipi

Prec

Table 3—Numbers of surviving plants by year and plant accession

Accession

16

14

12

fee)

ARNO
ARPY
ARTR
ATBO
ATCA
ATOB
ATTR1
ATTR2
CAMO
CELA
CEPA
CHNA
EPNE
GRSP
KOPRGR
KOPRVI
SAVE
SPCO
SPSA
YUSP

1977

81

1978

82

50
30
49
51
52
51
51
51
52
52
51
49
43
52
52
52
52
49
45
51

1979

83

43
13
47

84

1980

1981

14

85

Year

86

Figure 2—Precipitation data for years 1981-89 taken from a weather station located
at the Tooele Army Depot, South Area. A horizontal line denotes the precipitation

mean.

87

1983

88

1989

ooOoOOoO-OODDMDFfFLODVAOOCO

OW Ww
ow —

(2) {ey {>}

89

A limited number of Atriplex plants survived
through 1989: 12 percent of both A. tridentata
accessions and 27 percent of A. obovata. Seventeen
percent of Camphorosma plants and one Ceratoides
lanata plant also survived. The Camphorosma
plants produced seed in the first growing season,
and young seedlings were observed nearby in sub-
sequent years. However, the plants looked very poor
in 1989 and 1990 and may succumb to drought.
Only Sarcobatus and the two varieties of Kochia
showed greater than 50 percent survival through
the 12-year period.

Sarcobatus performed extremely well on this site,
growing to a mean height of 73 cm and a crown
diameter of over 82 cm (table 4). No reproduction
of this species was observed. In contrast, both forms
of Kochia prostrata not only survived, but spread
throughout the exclosure and up to 5 m from the
transplant plots. The density of volunteer Kochia
plants made identification of the original trans-
plants somewhat difficult. As many as 20 to 24
plants of Kochia were observed in a 15- by 30-m plot
in 1989. In 1990, the gray form, ssp. grisea, was
present on 18 of 20 sampled 1-m? plots with a mean
cover estimate of 18.9 percent. The red-stemmed,
green-leafed form, ssp. virescens, was present on
16 of 20 sampled plots with a mean cover of 33.7
percent.

Although present in great numbers in other parts
of the exclosure and on surrounding disturbed land,
cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and other introduced
annuals tended to be absent in Kochia-dominated
areas. The mean cover estimate on our plots was
less than 1.1 percent for Bromus and less than 0.1
percent for Salsola iberica. A few isolated plants of
Ceratoides lanata, Lactuca serriola, and Halogeton
glomeratus were also found within the exclosure,
though not in immediate proximity to Kochia.

McArthur and others (1990) document the inva-
sion of Kochia into dense stands of cheatgrass on

Table 4—Mean height and crown diameter measures for
plants surviving to 1990

Mean vegetative Mean crown
Accession n height diameter

ee ee ee ee eee CM------++-+---
ATTR1 6 29.8 52.2
ATTR2 6 28.2 39.8
ATOB 14 AES 33.3
CAMO U 12.4 20.4
KOPRGR 31 2a 31.6
KOPRVI 33 22.1 40.2

SAVE 39 73.1 82.3

an abandoned farm near Price, UT. Monsen and
Turnipseed (1990) have successfully established
stands of Kochia on sites dominated by annual
weeds, with minimal site preparation. It has
established and spread in the presence of several
disturbance-adapted species on roadside plantings
in Utah’s Sanpete and Sevier Counties (McArthur
and others 1990), and shows great promise in the
control of cheatgrass wildfires through “green-
stripping” (Pellant 1990).

Originally introduced to restore depleted and
disturbed rangeland, Kochia prostrata is drought
tolerant (Balyan 1972; Moghaddam 1978) and
relatively salt tolerant (Francois 1976). Kochia is
reportedly used as feed for a variety of livestock in
its native south-central Eurasia (Balyan 1972;
Keller and Bleak 1974; Moghaddam 1978). Protein
levels of new spring growth range from 12.1 percent
to 21.8 percent, and at least some accessions are
highly palatable to mule deer (Davis and Welch
1985). Recently, concern has been voiced about
introducing another exotic onto already depleted
rangelands. However, the ability of Kochia to
establish and spread on disturbed or degraded sites
suggests this species will persist as part of our
western flora for years to come. There have been no
reports to date of consequential spread into healthy
native plant communities. In our study, no plants
were observed outside of the disked strip surround-
ing the exclosure.

In summary, biotic factors such as insect preda-
tion and extreme weather conditions, both wet and
dry, created a severe test of adaptability of the
transplanted species. Some Atriplex, Camphorosma,
and Sarcobatus plants survived, but long-term
persistence of these species is doubtful because of
poor reproduction. In contrast, Kochia prostrata
showed a capacity for long-term survival, spreading
throughout open and disturbed areas of the exclo-
sure. Although capable of invading disturbed areas
dominated by exotic annuals, there is no evidence
as yet that Kochia will spread aggressively into
healthy, native plant stands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study site was established on land of the Salt
Lake District of the U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management with their active
cooperation. We thank Utah State University,
Department of Range Science and the Meteorology
Team, Tooele Army Depot for 1960-69 and 1981-89
precipitation data, respectively.

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Daubenmire, R. 1959. A canopy-coverage method
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Haws, B. A.; Bohart, G. E.; Nelson, D. R.; Nelson,
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