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| Disturbance of soils and vegetation communities can have enduring impacts on a landscape, especially in arid lands where plant growth is driven by unpredictable rainfall, and estimated recovery rates of vegetation range from decades to centuries. An assessment of the methods for revegetating disturbed areas is paramount for minimizing future disturbances and for directing restoration efforts. In a collaborative effort between US Geological Survey scientists and National Park Service resource specialists, two studies established at Lake Mead National Recreation Area will determine whether active restoration accelerates the rate of vegetation establishment following disturbance. One study focuses on the success of removing native surface soil before road improvements begin, storing the soil in piles, and returning the soil to disturbed roadsides with the intent that the salvaged soil seed bank will enhance revegetation. In addition to the impacts of road improvement activities, roads previously established within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area are being removed from public use. Therefore, a second study evaluates the success of seeding with native species and implementing various decompaction and mulching treatments, methods commonly used but often untested in arid land restoration, for revegetating decommissioned roads in the Mojave Desert. |
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