How Do You Rate This Publication?       

Title:	Restoring Aristida stricta to Pinus palustris ecosystems on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, U.S.A.
Author(s):	Outcalt, Kenneth W.; Williams, Marcus E.; Onokpise, Oghenekome
Date:	1999
Source:	Restoration Ecology. 7(3): 262-270.
Station ID:	--
Description:	Aristida stricta (wiregrass), a perennial bunchgrass, quickly accumulates dead leaves, which along with the shed needles of Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) provide the fuel for frequent surface fires. Thus, historically, wiregrass played a key role in many longleaf communities where it significantly influenced the natural fire regime and thereby the composition of the plant community. Reestablishment of wiregrass is, therefore, critical to restoring the native understory of Atlantic Coastal Plain longleaf pine ecosystems. This study measured the effects of different site preparations and fertilizer application on the survival and growth of wiregrass seedlings. Two-month-old seedlings were underplanted in existing longleaf pine stands on dry Lakeland soils at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Survival was acceptable at 51 percent after four years, although reduced owing to drought and small seedling size. Survival and growth could both be increased by using older seedlings with an initial height of at least 6 cm. Wiregrass leaves grew quite rapidly and attained an average length of 48 cm in four years on control plots. Basal area growth rate was greater than expected, averaging 40 percent on control treatments and 55 percent on cultivated and fertilized plots.
	View and Print this Publication (1.0 MB)
Pristine Version:	An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here: View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (3.3 MB)
Publication Notes:	We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information. This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain. Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact the SRS Webmaster, srswebmaster@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unuseable. You may send email to pubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication. (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
	Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility