Record Details

Irrigation to Enhance Native Seed Production for Great Basin Restoration

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

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Title Irrigation to Enhance Native Seed Production for Great Basin Restoration
Names Shock, Clinton C. (creator)
Feibert, Erik B. G. (creator)
Shaw, Nancy L. (creator)
Shock, Myrtle P. (creator)
Saunders, Lamont D. (creator)
Date Issued 2015-01 (iso8601)
Note To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the Natural Areas Association and can be found at: https://naturalareas.org/journal.
Abstract Native shrublands and their associated grasses and forbs have been disappearing from the
Great Basin as a result of grazing practices, exotic weed invasions, altered fire regimes, climate change
and other human impacts. Native forb seed is needed to restore these areas. The irrigation requirements
for maximum seed production of four key native forb species (Eriogonum umbellatum, Lomatium
dissectum, Penstemon speciosus, and Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia) were studied at the Oregon State
University Malheur Experiment Station beginning in 2005. Species plots were supplied with 0, 100,
or 200 mm of subsurface drip irrigation per year using a randomized complete block design with four
replications. Irrigation in each plot was divided into four equal increments applied between bud and
seed set with timing dependent upon the flowering and seed set phenology of each species. Seed was
harvested in each year of production through 2011, and the optimal irrigation rate was determined by
regression. The four native forb species differed in their responses to irrigation. Lomatium dissectum seed
yields were optimized with 140 mm of irrigation. Eriogonum umbellatum seed yields were optimized
with 173 to 200 mm of irrigation in dry years and progressively less to no irrigation in the wettest
year. Penstemon speciosus seed yields were optimized with 107 mm of irrigation in dry years and were
reduced by irrigation in wet years. Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia seed yields did not respond to irrigation.
Water requirements of these species are low, and these results can be used by seed growers to produce
native forb seed more economically.
Genre Article
Topic Eriogonum umbellatum
Identifier Shock, C. C., Feibert, E. B. G., Shaw, N. L., Shock, M. P., & Saunders, L. D. (2015). Irrigation to Enhance Native Seed Production for Great Basin Restoration. Natural Areas Journal, 35(1), 74-82. doi:10.3375/043.035.0111

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