ABSTRACT:
Land disturbance from more extensive surface mining in the Northern Great Plains poses the question of how much topsoil (A and B horizon) material is necessary to restore these sites. The effect of topsoil depth and mulching method on the forage production of seeded species was investigated on reclaimed uranium lands in Wyoming between 1977 and 1982. Water infiltration and storage were also tested. In the fall of 1977, on plots with topsoil depths of 0, 200, 400, and 600 mm, a mixture of three wheatgrass species and green needlegrass was seeded directly into barley stubble and fallow plots mulched with 5 t/ha−1 of barley straw. Forage production by these seeded species from 1979 through 1982 generally was greater on plots with 400 or 600 mm topsoil that had been established with stubble mulch, compared to those with straw mulch. With 400 and 600 mm of topsoil, infiltration increased from 1979 to 1982, suggesting that the soil physical characteristics improved because of plant root penetration into the soil. Stubble-mulched plots exhibited significantly greater infiltration than straw-mulched plots at the 600-mm topsoil depth in all years.
Footnotes
G. E. Schuman and E. M. Taylor are soil scientists with the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009; F. Rauzi, now retired, was a soil scientist with ARS-USDA, Laramie, Wyoming, and B. A. Pinchak is a graduate research assistant, University of Wyoming, Laramie. This article is a contribution from the High Plains Grasslands Research Station, ARS-USDA, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009, in cooperation with the Wyoming Agriculturl Experiment Station, Laramie, and Pathfinder Mines Corp., Shirley Basin Mine, Shirley Basin, Wyoming.
- Copyright 1985 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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