Effects of Nutrient Manipulations and Grass Removal on Cover, Species Composition, and Invasibility of a Novel Grassland in Colorado

Abstract

Abstract Cover and richness of a 5‐year revegetation effort were studied with ,respect to small‐scale disturbance and nutrient manipulations. The site, originally a relict tallgrass prairie mined for gravel, was replanted to native grasses using a seed mixture of tall‐, mixed‐, and short‐grass species. Following one wet and three relatively dry years, a community emerged, dominated by species common in saline soils not found along the Colorado Front Range. A single species, Alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), composed nearly 50% of relative vegetation cover in control plots exhibiting a negative relationship between cover and richness. Seeded species composed approximately 92% of vegetation cover. The remaining 8% was composed of weeds from nearby areas, seed bank survivors, or mix contaminants. Three years of soil nutrient amendments, which lowered plant‐available nitrogen and phosphorus, significantly increased relative cover of seeded species to 97.5%. Fertilizer additions of phosphate enhanced abundance of introduced annual grasses (Bromus spp.) but did not significantly alter cover in control plots. Unmanipulated 4‐m2 plots contained an average of 4.7 planted species and 3.9 nonplanted species during the 5‐year period, whereas plots that received grass herbicide averaged 5.4 nonplanted species. Species richness ranged from an average 6.9 species in low‐nutrient, undisturbed plots to 10.9 species in the relatively high‐nutrient, disturbed plots. The use of stockpiled soils, applied sparingly, in conjunction with a native seed mix containing species uncommon to the preexisting community generated a species‐depauperate, novel plant community that appears resistant to invasion by ruderal species.