Trait-based approaches to improve success of dryland restoration in the US Conservation Reserve Program


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About the project

There is growing concern about the status and trends of pollinators across U.S. dryland ecosystems. The U.S. Farm Service Agency’s Conservation Research Program (CRP) CP-42 program seeks improve the quantity and quality of pollinator habitat. However, establishing these forb-rich plantings in dryland regions is difficult and plantings frequently fail to meet the program objectives.

We are collaborating with researchers at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to investigate what seeding strategies and functional trait-based approaches support the establishment of pollinator-friendly plants across CRP plantings across drylands of the western U.S.


Major questions

Question 1

How do field preparations and seeding rates influence pollinator-friendly seed mix recruitment in the face of drought and weed limitation?

Question 2

How can plant functional traits be used to improve understanding of past CRP outcomes and inform strategic seed mix design?



Collaborators

Lauren Porensky, USDA-ARS

Rangeland Plant Ecologist, project Co-PI.

John Hendrickson, USDA-ARS

Rangeland Scientist, project Co-PI.

Drew Scott, USDA-ARS

Research Agronomist, project Co-PI.

Team members

Mary Van Dyke

Mary is a postdoc leading cross-site syntheses and experiments using trait-based approaches to improve understanding of CRP seedling success.

Nora Bales

Nora is a PhD student in the lab working on the CRP pollinator seeding project as part of her dissertation.

Amy Gill

Amy is a PhD student in the lab working on the CRP pollinator seeding project as part of her dissertation.