Role of irrigation and fertilization in revegetation of cold desert mined lands

Abstract

This study determined responses of vegetation and soils to different rates and seasonal schedules of first-year irrigation in combination with varied N-P fertilization on cold desert mined lands. Certain irrigation treatments increased soil water content initially, but had no appreciable effects on soil salinity or fertility. Specific rates and schedules of irrigation temporarily benefited total stand and dominant perennial grass establishment and productivity, but treatment effects diminished or reversed over time. Subdominant shrubs and perennial forbs were more persistently enhanced by specific irrigation treatments. Fertilization did not modify plant response to irrigation regimes. Although annual species were positively influenced by fertilization with heavier rates of irrigation, such stimulation proved ephemeral and perennial species never responded to fertilization under any irrigation regime.