The Importance of Soil Characteristics in Determining Survival of First-Year Cottonwood Seedlings in Altered Riparian Habitats

Most major rivers in the southwestern United States have been hydrologically altered to meet human needs. Altered hydrological regimes have been associated with declines in native riparian forests. Today, many riparian areas have little or no regeneration of native riparian species and are now dominated by exotic Saltcedar (Tamarix chinensis Lour.). Success of riparian restoration efforts at least partially depends on the number of seedlings surviving the first growing season. Seedling survival is influenced by many abiotic and biotic factors including competition from other plants and available soil moisture, which is partially dependent on soil texture. In this study, we evaluated the relative importance of four...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Cottonwood seedling, Middle Rio Grande Valley, Populus deltoides, Restoration Ecology, riparian restoration, All tags... soil moisture, soil texture, Fewer tags