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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>APWG: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Dremann brings up an interesting point about low P
in the soils inhabited by cheatgrass. Soil P is not the same as tissue P, and
those two measurements should always go together. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Since the natives grasses are obligately
mycorrhizal and cheatgrass isn't (kindly correct me if I am wrong), and since
mycorrhizae are pathways for P to the indigenous grasses, and if the soils are
non-mycorrhizal, perhaps the addition of indigenous mycorrhizal fungi would tip
the scales in favor of the indigenous species. A turfing grass like Leymus
(Elymus) triticoides should almost certainly wipe out the cheatgrass (and almost
everything else). The Leymus hybrids which have developed in response to
disturbance (Stebbins, G. Ledyard--forgot the reference, but it was in the
1950's, and some personal communications) are especially "good" (or "bad") at
this, having hybrid vigor--they may or may not be present in some areas. Some of
the commercially-produced inocula <EM>might</EM> work, but I would confirm that
before I spent a fortune on a large-scale project (All large-scale projects
should begin with a proof-of-concept demonstration project on a small scale.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Of course, as the indigenous species did not evolve
with non-migratory sheep and cattle in large numbers or at all, their continued
presence will prevent any restoration project from being worthy of the name, and
most likely very short-lived. The indigenous species are sensitive to excessive
trampling, not to mention overgrazing. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Good luck!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>WT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=craig@astreet.com
href="mailto:craig@astreet.com">craig@astreet.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=srmckay@students.tvcc.cc
href="mailto:srmckay@students.tvcc.cc">srmckay@students.tvcc.cc</A> ; <A
title=apwg@lists.plantconservation.org
href="mailto:apwg@lists.plantconservation.org">apwg@lists.plantconservation.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, January 17, 2013 11:09
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [APWG] Purple in
cheatgrass</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P>Dear Shawn and All,</P>
<P>Hello to our weed friends from down under. Sorry to hear that you
have cheatgrass in Australia.</P>
<P>In replanting a square miles of cheatgrass land in 1994-5 in our Great
Basin, that you can see at <A
href="http://www.ecoseeds.com/greatbasin.html">http://www.ecoseeds.com/greatbasin.html</A>,
we found that the cheatgrass always indicated phosphorus poor solis.
</P>
<P>So poor in fact, that without fertilizer, we could got get the local native
seeds to survive as seedlings, like you can see at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/good.example.</P>
<P>From looking at photo vegetation megatransects of Australia, that you can
see at http://www.ecoseeds.com/australia.megatransect.html, your land is in
the same vulnerable condition as a lot of our arid lands are. In
that the local native grass cover has been grazed away, leaving scattered
shrubs, like you can see at the photo coordinates of 24S-139E, with lots of
bare areas for the cheatgrass to colonize.</P>
<P>We invented a rule of thumb for cheatgrass--Cheatgrass is a default-weed,
only growing where the local native grasses have become spatially extinct, or
where soil nutrients have dropped below the threshold required b y the local
native seedlings to properly survive.</P>
<P>We found that for each species of native grass that we replanted on the
site, each had a different range of soil nutrient thresholds that they
required for seedling survival. Poas and Sitanion (now Elymus) had the
lowest requirement, and Great Basin wild rye (another Elymus) had the
highest, and this was all determined by doing soil tests for N-P-K and soil
carbon content.</P>
<P>Current images of my Palo Alto California grassland plots, that are still
99.999% weed-free as on Monday, can be seen at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/arastradero.html. A big contrast to the land
just outside of the test plot, the thistle plants are 3 per sq. inch, and the
exotic grasses 8 per sq. inch, which translates to 18 million and 50 million
weed seedlings per acre. I hope this encourages others to try native
straw mulch elsewhere on the planet.</P>
<P>Sincerely, Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333</P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P>
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