The Use of Seedbed Modifications and Wood Chips to Accelerate Restoration of Well Pad Sites in Western Colorado, U.S.A

Semiarid ecosystems of Western North America are expe-riencing a boom in natural gas development. However,these systems are slow to recover from the disturbancescreated. The purpose of this study was to develop improvedrestoration techniques on natural gas well pads in West-ern Colorado. This study examined effects and interac-tions of seedbed modifications, soil amendments, seed mix-tures, and seeding methods. The experiment was conductedin pinyon-juniper and semidesert shrub plant communi-ties on five natural gas well pads beginning in 2006. Soiland plant cover data were collected to assess the effec-tiveness of 16 different treatment combinations. After twogrowing seasons, we found that patches of soil salinity( > 4 dS/m) reduced plant cover to less than 20% on 55 ofour 240 experimental plots. These patches of salinity, suchas where reserve pits were buried, may need to be treatedto completely restore cover on the total gas pad area,although causes of salinity patches needs further investi-gation. After removing the 55 saline plots from our dataanalyses, we found that wood chips (WC) as a soil amend-ment increased organic matter content and reduced non-native species. Rough seedbed modifications increased theestablishment of native species, especially during years ofbelow average precipitation. Island broadcasting resultedin an increase of noxious plant cover during the secondgrowing season. From these findings we recommend thatdisturbed well pads in a similar environment be restored byseeding native species on sites that are amended with WCand physically modified to create a roughened seedbed.Key words: ecological processes, microcatchments, nativeplants, natural gas, revegetation techniques, soil amend-ments.Introduction