Assessing The Effect Of Hydrophilic Soil
Amendments On Riparian Plant Survival
In Arid And Semi-arid Environments
Author(s)
R. A. Fischer & C. D. Beiner
Abstract
Riparian restoration efforts in arid and semi-arid regions are extremely
challenging to conduct and frequently unsuccessful where irrigation is not
possible, or where the water table occurs well below the root zone of newly
established vegetation. Lack of irrigation or lowered water tables can preclude
adequate soil moisture for riparian plants to become established, or to survive
after initially becoming established. This paper describes field investigations at
three sites in southern Arizona (USA) to test the efficacy of two hydrophilic soil
amendments to improve survival of woody riparian plantings in the absence of
irrigation. Unlike numerous studies that show the contrary, a commercially
available hydrogel had no significant influence on plant survival or condition
when compared with trees receiving no amendment. Conversely, a relatively
new amendment called DriWater improved both survival and plant condition at
two of the three study sites. This amendment shows significant promise for
revegetating arid areas where irrigation is not possible. However, because of
potentially high cost, the use of DriWater should be considered only when
traditional irrigation methods are unavailable.
Keywords: riparian revegetation, plant survival, soil amendments, DriWater,
Terrasorb, arid lands.
1 Introduction
Loss of riparian areas has reached more than 90% throughout much of the arid
and semi-arid western United States. This widespread reduction in extent and
quality of this streamside ecosystem has led to an increased interest in
Keywords
riparian revegetation, plant survival, soil amendments, DriWater,
Terrasorb, arid lands.
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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