Relative performance of native prairie grasses and forbs for revegetation of a pipeline disturbance on native prairie

Results of an extensive revegetation testing program involving 59 species of native grasses and forbs, and three types of soil disturbed by pipeline operations -- clay loam, sandy loam and loam -- at three different locations, all within a 50 km area, are described. Plant responses varied widely with respect to plant survival, seedling emergence, first season seedling survival, spread, biomass productivity, cover, vigour and apparent competitive ability. In general, cultivars of native species were more successful and performed more uniformly. Three cultivars of slender wheatgrass, Highlander, Revenue and Hillcrest, had the best above average performance. Among the trial species that had above average performances were the blue grama and needle and thread grass. One source of junegrass that is widely used for revegetation in Alberta as well as in Saskatchewan did not survive the first winter at any of the three locations. Many other native forb lines also performed poorly and do not appear to be long-term survivors. The overall results point towards the need for cultivar development and/or a seed source identification system that provides more predictable results