Using Mulch for Grassland Restoration in Texas and Utah
Channel: Conservation and Adaptation Resources Toolbox
Date: 2023-02-20

Listen to Jeffery Bennett (American Bird Conservancy) and Rebecca Mann (USGS) talk about the use of mulch for grassland restoration in Texas at Big Bend National Park and in the Uinta basin of Utah.

Jeff Bennett - Big Bend National Park, Texas 00:01:15
In 2004, National Park Service staff at Big Bend National Park began experimenting with a variety of planting techniques in degraded and eroded soils. Park staff combined hydroseeding of grass with a commercial bonded fiber matrix (BFM) and a branch mulch cover. The BFM keeps seeds in place until the rainy season and branch mulch takes on the vital hydrologic role of rainfall interception, allowing for throughfall, and reducing temperature. Treatments were arranged to mimic natural banded vegetation and arranged as chevrons on surfaces with rills. Nutrient cycling rates were greater under the branch mulch, and soil microbial biomass increased within the first year. Grass production under treatments was successful with normal monsoon rain even if the rain came more than a year later.

Rebecca Mann - Unita Basin, Utah 00:19:24
Rebecca and others from U.S. Geological Survey established a network of reclamation study sites on abandoned oil and gas well pads in the Uinta Basin, UT. They test methods commonly used by industry and novel methods designed to overcome low soil moisture and low soil fertility that reduce plant restoration at these harsh sites. The team found that treatments hypothesized to increase soil moisture, such as mulching, have had the largest positive effect on plant establishment compared to all other treatments.  Rebecca will share results from this study, costs and benefits of mulching for reclamation, and discuss how this experiment network can inform future restoration efforts at a broad scale.

Discussion 00:38:50

Presented by Jeffery Bennett, American Bird Conservancy & Rio Grande Joint Venture, and Rebecca Mann, USGS
February 8th, 2023