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Ease of establishment by direct seeding has resulted in fourwing saltbush [Atriplex cunescens (Pursh) Nutt.] becoming the principal, sometimes the only, shrub on certain revegetated mined lands in Wyoming. To prevent dense stands that might exclude other Land &ality Div&on, now Bmits the amount of fourwing saltbush that can be included in a reclamation seed mix. There is evidence that fourwing saltbush may aid, rather than hinder, the establishment of other shrubs. A thesis is developed for fourwing’s role as a pioneer species that creates ecosystem diversity, auguments the invasion of late-succession plants, and declines in density as succession progresses. The shrub is recommended as a means to direct succession toward successful reciamation. Mine managers are cautioned that the rate of natural invasion of climax species into seeded stands of fourwing saltbush is not known. Fourwing saltbush [Atriplex cunescens (Pursh) Nutt.] is probably the most studied and most seeded of all western shrubs. The seed is relatively inexpensive and available from seed suppliers. Contrasted to other shrubs, successful stands are often established by direct seeding. This success, however, causes some to question its wide-spread use. Citing the need for plant diversity, Harju, staff biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, complained (1980) that, “The universal seed mix, three species of grasses and four-wing(sic) saltbush, is. . . unacceptable for wildlife. . . . “Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality-Land Quality Division (WDEQ/ LQD) personnel, suggest that A. cunescens seeded at 2.2 to 5.6 kg/ ha, may exclude other shrubs and grow into monotypic stands (S. Tessmann, wildlife biologist, WDEQ/ LQD, personal communication). Their O&kg/ ha pure-live-seed (Boles 1984) limitation emphasizes their concern about the relative success of this species on mined lands. Three areas are of concern when A. cunescens is the major shrub component of a seed mix: (1) its forage value (2) its potential for competitive exclusion of other plants-particularly shrubs, and (3) its value to all types of wildlife. The intent of this paper is to examine the role of A. cunescens in the reclamation of mined lands. Particular attention is paid to the wildlife biologist’s concern for loss of sagebrush habitat. The literature reviewed is a basis for postulating A. cunescens’ role as a pioneer shrub useful in accelerating and directing plant succession on mined lands. A case is thereby made for the unregulated use of A. cunescens by reclamation specialists. Forage Value and Potential Toxicity The Range Plant Handbook (Dayton 1937) describes A. cunestens as one of the most valuable forage shrubs for all classes of livestock and wildlife in the arid Southwest and Intermountain Region. The handbook attributes A. cunescens’importance to its abundance, accessibility, size, large forage volume, evergreen habit, high palatability and nutritive value (citing work done 1900 through 1931 in New Mexico, Nevada and by the U.S. Dep. of Agriculture). The winter crude protein, in vitro digestibility, and production for 43 accessions of A. cunescens (even-aged plants in a common garden) varied significantly among accessions with ranges of 6 to 14%for crude protein, 29 to 47%for digestibility, and Author is range scientist, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, High Plains Grasslands Research Station, 8408 Hildreth Road, Cheyenne, Wyo. 82009. Manuscript accepted March 25, 1985. .05 to 2.0 kg for annual production per plant (Welch and Monsen 1984). Yearling steers heavily use A. cunescens on mine sites revegetated to native wheatgrasses (Agropyron spp.) in Shirley Basin, Wyoming (personal observation). A. cunescens interseeded with crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum Schult.) on Idaho rangeland was also readily eaten by cattle which consumed about 50% of the annual growth (Monsen 1980). Interplanting A. cunestens in grass stands is recommended to increase yield and quality of forage (Van Epps and McKell 1977, Rumba@ et al. 1982). A. cunescens is reported as good forage for sheep (Nemati 1977a), goats, deer, elk, and rabbits (Plummer et al. 1968, Blauer et al. 1976, Wasser 1982) and fair for antelope (Wasser 1982). A number of birds and small mammals feed on both the seeds and the foliage (Anonymous 1968, Wasser 1982). Palatability of Atriplex spp. may be related to the amount of salt accumulated on the leaf surface since the last precipitation event; if true, the physiological mechanism for salt tolerance also protects it against overbrowsing during drought periods (Goodin and Mozafar 1972 Wasser 1982). As with most Atriplex species A. cunescens, a secondary selenium absorber, will accumlate toxic selenium levels if grown on soils containing 2 pg/ g or more of the element (Schmutz et al. 1968, Davis 1972). Davis (1972) notes that seleniferous soils are limited in the rangeland areas of the western U.S. and that the use of Atriplex spp. should not be curtailed because of selenium accumulation. Evidence gathered in Wyoming and Montana indicate reclaimed mined lands pose no greater threat of selenium toxicity than do the undisturbed range sites (Stanley et al. 1982). Potential for Competitive Exclusion In some southwestern deserts A. cunescens may occur as a local dominant or a codominant; however, throughout most of its range it grows singly and more or less scattered among other members of the plant community (Dayton 1937, Wagner and Aldon 1978). A. cunescens does not form extensive dominant stands as does big sagebrush [Artemisiu tridentutu (Nutt.)] or juniper (Juniperus spp.), nor is it reported to be aggressive. Yet A. cunescens often dominates the mined land shrub population. This domination may be due to exclusive seeding, as noted by Harju (1980) to lack of survival of other seeded shrubs (personal observations at Hanna and at Shirley Basin, Wyo.) or to natural immigration as found by Wagner et al. (1978) in New Mexico. A. cunescens domination, in each case, is due to its capability to prosper on disturbed land. Wagner and Aldon (1978) suggested, and presented evidence (Wagner et al. 1978), that A. cunescens is an early-seral species as well as a constituent of mature ecosystems. If A. cunescens functions as a pioneer plant, then relatively pure stands should give way-with time-to a more diverse shrub population. This has been observed on 2 revegetated mined sites in Wyoming where big sagebrush, rabbitbrush (Chrysothumnus spp.), Gardner’s saltbush [Atriplex gurdneri (Moq.) D. Dietr.], shadscale [A. confertifolia (Torr. and Fren.) Wats.] and fringed sagewort [Artemisiu frigidu (Willd.)] have immigrated, after 2 years, onto sites where A. cunestens was the only shrub planted (Boles 1984). The immigration of these species contrasts with the limited success mine personnel have had establishing late-seral shrubs during initial planting programs (Stelter and Mikol 198 1). JOURNAL OF RANGE MANAGEMENT C%(6), November 1985 The foregoing is direct, though tenative, evidence for A. canescens’role as a pioneer plant. It is sufficient basis for postulating that A. canescens can be used to accelerate succession on mined lands, that such acceleration will encourage natural immigration of late-seral shrubs such as sagebrush and rabbitbrush, and that the density of A. canescens stands will decrease as succession progresses. This thesis is supported by research of soil chemical and microbiological interactions with A. canescens and other shrubs, by documentation of A. canescens’affect on associated plants and by observations and research of A. canescensdecimating factors. Soil Effects A. canescens, and other shrubs, accelerate soil development. Soil profiles under shrubs are deeper, pH values more alkaline (Fairchild and Brotherson 1980), and N, P, K, (also S, Mg, Na, Ca, Cl, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu), organic matter, rate of water infiltration, and microbiological activity are all higher under shrub canopies than under the interspaces (Charley 1972, Sharma and Tongway 1973, Tiedemann and Klemmedson 1973, Fairchild and Brotherson 1980, West 1981). The level of microbiological activity is of special interest, since microorganisms are responsible for improvements in the chemical and physical character of the soil (Cundell 1977). The reestablishment of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae is a specific concern in the revegetation of mined lands, as adequate populations of these symbionts may be prerequiste to healthy stands of late-successional shrubs (Reeves et al. 1979, Loree and Williams 1982, Allen, E.B. 1984a). Plants colonizing disturbed lands are often nonmycorrhizal and may hinder recovery because they do not provide an inoculum source for mycorrhizal-obligate species (Reeves et al. 1979, Allen, E.B. 1984b Doerr et al. 1984). A. canescens can be infected (Williams et al. 1974, Aldon 1975, Lindsey 1984) and serve as a safe site for, and source of, mycorrhizal inoculum. Infection of A. canescens plants on mined land can occur through numerous avenues, including transportation of infected plant parts or mycelia fragments by wind, water or mammals (Hull 198 I, MacMahon and Warner 1984). M.F. Allen (1984) observed that facultative mycorrhizal plants may be needed to build up organic matter and mycorrhizal inoculum prior to the establishment of mycorrhizaldependent species on mined land. A. canescens is uniquely capable of filling that need. Plant Effects The effects of A. canescens on above-ground plant production are also noteworthy. Forage production increased three-fold after 1 million A. canescens seedlings were transplanted to the Central Plateau of Iran (Nemati 1977b). This increase was attributed largely to native grasses and forbs which benefited from the improved microclimate-especially protection from wind. Rumbaugh et al. (1982), who also found herbage production to be significantly greater for plants growing near A. canescens, credited the increase to better soil fert

The Role of Fourwing Saltbush in Mined Land Reclamation: A Viewpoint