Promising results in central Alberta with rough fescue (Festuca hallii) seeding following disturbance

Plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper [Poaceae]), once dominant in rough fescue grasslands of central Canada and the northern US, recovers poorly if disturbed by cattle grazing or oil and gas production soil handling techniques. This long-lived bunchgrass requires 3 to 5 y to become established, during which time it may be exposed to competition from faster-growing species. Our first research objective was to assess the recovery of F. hallii by comparing a monoculture seeding to a mixed seeding of native grass (Poaceae) species including F. hallii, Koeleria macrantha (Ledeb.) Schult., Elymus trachycaulus (Link) Gould ex Shinners ssp. subsecundus (Link) Á. Löve & D. Löve, Pascopyrum smithii (Rydb.) Á. Löve, Nassella viridula (Trin.) Barkworth, Hesperostipa comata (Trin. & Rupr.) Barkworth, and Bouteloua gracilis (Willd. ex Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths. Our second objective was to evaluate plant community development of both seeding mixes. We established seeding experiments on 3 field sites in central Alberta, Canada. When seeded as a monoculture, the F. hallii plant community that resulted included native species re-established from the seedbank or seed rain, such as Helictotrichon hookeri (Scribn.) Henr. (Poaceae). In the native species seed mix, wheatgrasses (E. trachycaulus ssp. subsecundus and P. smithii) dominated in the first 3 y with low F. hallii cover. We recommend seeding F. hallii with few or no aggressive species, such as wheatgrasses, in the seed mix.