Effectiveness of Burning, Herbicide, and Seeding Toward Restoring Rangelands in Southeastern North Dakota

Many rangelands in southeastern North Dakota are invaded by Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) and/or smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.). It may be especially difficult for native species to reestablish in rangelands dominated by Kentucky bluegrass and/or smooth brome due to these species' competitive advantages. Relatively few studies have specifically compared the effectiveness of methods intended to reduce competition from Kentucky bluegrass and/or smooth brome before seeding with native species in southeastern North Dakota. In our current study, we evaluated the effects of five restoration treatments: 1) control (no seeding or competition-reduction treatments), 2) interseed (native seeds drilled into the existing plant community), 3) spring burn before drill seeding native species, 4) glyphosate application before drill seeding native species, and 5) spring burn plus glyphosate application before drill seeding native species on a degraded rangeland plant community. We installed the five treatments in fifteen 40 × 100 m plots in 2010. In 2015, we sampled the vegetation within each plot to determine whether the restoration methods increased total and/or native warm-season grass biomass, reduced Kentucky bluegrass and/or smooth brome biomass, or increased grass species richness. Although none of our restoration treatments impacted Kentucky bluegrass biomass, each of our restoration treatments increased grass species richness over the control. Including a glyphosate application before seeding with natives also increased total biomass, reduced smooth brome biomass, and increased native warm-season grass species richness. Thus, we suggest that the glyphosate application was a worthwhile addition at this location because it resulted in additional improvements to the invasive-dominated plant community.