HOME > SCIENCE > COLLINS PROJECTS > REGIONAL STRATEGIES FOR RESTORING INVADED PRAIRIES

Regional Strategies for Restoring Invaded Prairies

Participating States/Provinces: Oregon, Washington and British Columbia

Length of Project: Five years

Amount of Award: $499,935

For more information, please contact , Associate Director of Stewardship, The Nature Conservancy.

General Significance of Project:

Controlling invasive species poses one of the most critical challenges in managing prairies in the Willamette Valley - Puget Sound - Georgia Basin (WPG) ecoregion. However, current knowledge regarding the effectiveness of techniques for controlling many herbaceous invasives is largely anecdotal. To restore native biodiversity to these prairies, managers must develop effective combinations of treatments that produce lasting effects based on scientifically-based strategies. This project is one of the first in the Nature Conservancy to take a systematic and comprehensive approach to developing restoration strategies in an endangered community type across an entire ecoregion. By working from the outset in close collaboration with many land managers, the project will significantly influence the long-term management of key prairies throughout the region.

Goals of Project:

To address critical needs in prairie restoration, this project addresses two primary goals:

1. Evaluate and improve strategies for controlling the abundance of invasive non-native herbaceous weeds, while maintaining or enhancing the abundance and diversity of native plant species.
2. Develop an approach to generalize these results so that they can be applied by prairie managers throughout the region.

The primary focus is on restoring upland prairies that have been moderately to extensively invaded by non-native perennial grasses, but where some native species still remain. The project will achieve these goals by establishing experimental treatment plots replicated across sites from Oregon to British Columbia, in which multiple treatments will be applied and evaluated over a 5-year experiment.

Achievements to Date:

• Held a meeting with all major partners in the project, including scientists, statistician, and land managers, to establish the needed working relationships for the project, and to reach consensus on the initial phase of the project study design.
• Established a project web site to make public our intended action, extend its impact, and keep our partners updated (see http://www.appliedeco.org/prairie_restoration.html).
• Installed study plots and collected data on vegetation variables at 11 sites in 2005 and 2006.
• Compiled and checked data from all sites into a single database.
• Applied mowing, herbicide, burning, and seed addition treatments in 2005 and 2006.
• Collected soil samples from all sites and completed preliminary soil analyses.
• Continued developing analysis of plant trait information for generalizing results among species.
• Submitted proposal to the National Science Foundation to extend project funds with research to include mechanisms behind observed experimental results.
• Held mid-project meeting with collaborating partners to plan future experimental treatments.
• Presented project design and preliminary results at several scientific and community meetings.
• Working with Ph.D. student to augment project through added research on seedling recruitment.
• Working with undergraduate student for a senior project on weed and native seed production.