Ecological studies of natural and established ecosystems on energy related disturbances in Colorado. Progress report 1983-1984

Technical Report · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5288863

Redente, E F; Cook, C W

Studies have concentrated on soil, plant, and microbial interactions to gain a better understanding of plant community changes over time on perturbed systems. These studies have shown that disturbance and revegetation practices influence vegetation structure and succession primarily in two ways: (1) by modifying chemical, physical, and biological properties of the soil and (2) by influencing the initial floristic composition of the plant community. Both the intensity and the type of disturbance, through their effect on soil chemical and physical properties have been shown to influence aboveground vegetation structure and succession. When disturbance results in a material such as retorted oil shale being used as a growth medium, the chemical, physical, and biological properties are drastically altered. Few plant species have been shown to perform well on this material and as a result, plant communities established on Paraho retorted shale are low in diversity and canopy cover. In addition to modifying soil properties, these studies show that the second major way that disturbances and revegetation practices affect vegetation structure and succession is by influencing the initial floristic composition of the plant community. Once the initial floristic composition of the community is determined, changes in species composition may occur due to competitive interactions. The competitive interactions among four native grass species occurring on the site have been studied. Competitive relationships among species are discussed in terms of the effect of fertilizer, soil depth, and phenologic stage on biomass and gross energy content of competing pairs. The ecogenic variation within eight native species (five shrubs, one forb, and two grasses) has been studied and adaptive advantages of the genetic differences are discussed.

• Research Organization: Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (USA). Dept. of Range Science
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76EV04018
• OSTI ID: 5288863
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/04018-7; ON: DE84006986
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
041000* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Environmental Aspects
560303 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Plants-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
COMMUNITIES
COMPETITION
DATA
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FERTILIZERS
FUNGI
GROWTH
INFORMATION
LAND RECLAMATION
MICROORGANISMS
NUMERICAL DATA
PLANT GROWTH
PLANTS
PRODUCTIVITY
REVEGETATION
SOILS
SPENT SHALES