Establishment and survival of ground cover plantings on disturbed areas in Alberta. Final report of Phase I.

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Wheeler, G. W.
  • Vaartnou, H.

• In February of 1973 a meeting of representatives from interested government agencies and industries was held in Edmonton in order to determine the need for research on the revegetation of disturbed areas in Alberta. As a result of this meeting a research project was set up to study the establishment and survival of ground cover vegetation on roadsides, utility rights-of-way, and non-cultivated disturbed areas in Alberta. The purposes of the project, as set out by that meeting, were: 1. to provide the basic information necessary for recommendations for revegetation and management of disturbed areas, such as roadsides, utility rights-of-way, erosion control, etc., 2. to improve wildlife habitats in non-cultivated, disturbed areas, when practical and possible, 3. to provide the basic information regarding the amount of pesticides required to control undesirable vegetation on non-agricultural areas in Alberta, 4. to improve the aesthetic values of disturbed areas. A preliminary field survey was conducted during the summer of 1973 to provide background information on the vegetation presently growing on disturbed areas. The objectives of this survey were: 1. to study the natality, mortality, and biotic potential of the species providing the vegetation on roadsides, utility rights-of-way, and other disturbed areas in Alberta, 2. to locate, evaluate, and identify native vegetation which may be used for revegetation purposes on rights-of-way, roadsides, erosion control, and surface-mined areas, etc. in Alberta, 3. to study the weed infestation and bio-competitive weed control on reclaimed areas such as roadsides, utility rights-of-way, eroded, and surface-mined areas, 4. to collect seeds of native plants for testing, 5. to identify and evaluate problems involved in maintaining rights-of-way. The first three progress reports covered the vegetation along roadsides, pipeline and power line rights-of-way, and some strip-mining areas. Progress report #4 related the vegetation to some important soil properties. This report attempts to synthesize the information from the previous four reports as well as that gained in previous ecological studies and in some growth chamber testing conducted during the winter in order to provide preliminary recommendations as to which species ate likely to be useful for what revegetation purposes.

• Date created

  1973

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Weeds
  • Native Species
  • Roadsides
  • Rights-of-way
  • Revegetation
  • Alberta
  • Alberta

• Type of Item

  Report

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3610VS54

• License

  This material is provided under educational reproduction permissions included in Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s Copyright and Disclosure Statement; see terms at agriculture.alberta.ca/copyright. This Statement requires the following identification: The source of the materials is Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, www.agriculture.alberta.ca. The use of these materials by the end user is done without any affiliation with or endorsement by the Government of Alberta. Reliance upon the end user's use of these materials is at the risk of the end user.