Land rehabilitation research at Pacific Northwest Laboratories
One of the major goals of rehabilitation of surface mined lands is to establish a self-sustaining vegetative cover. The cover should provide protection against wind and water erosion and provide forage for wildlife and livestock comparable to that of pre-mining conditions. Although livestock grazing has been practiced in the Western United States for more than a century there is a general paucity of information concerning the primary productivity of western rangelands. The productivity of sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass ecosystems was studied at the U. S. ERDA Hanford Reservation in South Central Washington. Here a stand of sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass vegetation was quantitatively sampled for four consecutive years, and results are reported from a controlled cattle grazing study to determine the ability of sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass communities to sustain moderate grazing pressure, and to measure weight gains of cattle. The effects of severe soil disturbances caused by plowing on native plant communities were also studied. The purpose of the restoration of surface mined lands conducted on the arid Hanford Reservation is to use modern machinery such as that used in removing the overburden from coal seams to create an environment that is more favorable to plant growth than conventional land leveling and topsoiling. The project consists of two parts: modifying the topography to accumulate precipitation (water harvest), and the placement of topsoil in sufficient depth to provide soil water storage and mineral nutrition to enable the growth of plants with greater productivity and higher economic value than those plants that can be cultivated under conventional land restoration practices.
- Research Organization:
- Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-06-1830
- OSTI ID:
- 7321112
- Report Number(s):
- BNWL-SA-6089
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AGRICULTURE
LAND RECLAMATION
HANFORD RESERVATION
SURFACE MINING
CATTLE
CLIMATES
CONTROL
DESERTS
EROSION
FORAGE
GRASS
GROUND WATER
LAND USE
METEOROLOGY
NUTRIENTS
PLANTS
PREFERRED SPECIES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TOPOGRAPHY
WATER REQUIREMENTS
ANIMAL FEEDS
ANIMALS
ARID LANDS
BIOMASS
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOOD
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
MINING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RUMINANTS
SHRUBS
TREES
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VERTEBRATES
WATER
510500* - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)