Document: KEN-3-64-3

Diagnostic tools and reclamation technology for mitigating impacts of DoD/DOE activities on arid areas.

KENT OSTLER, DRW.*, DRJ.DENNIS HANSEN and DRC.DAVID ANDERSON

Bechtel Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89193 USA 1

Abstract:
Seventy percent of Department of Defense training and testing areas is on arid and semi-arid land. Testing and training activities can be devastating to land sustainability and consequently can threaten the continuation of military testing and training operations. Current gaps exist in diagnostic capabilities to distinguish between various degrees of sustainable and non-sustainable impacts from earth-disturbing activities in these desert ecosystems. This Strategic Environmental Research and Development Project is designed to develop innovative diagnostic techniques to rapidly characterize impacts. The diagnostics include new rapid detection methods of image collection including utilizing laser induced fluorescence to detect the condition of stressed plants. Image processing techniques are being assessed to provide rapid assessment of vegetation parameters (cover, density, etc.) used in various Department of Defense models such as ATTACC. New and cost-effective techniques for revegetation of disturbed habitats have been and are being examined at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert of California. Restoration trials at 13 sites on the base representing three levels of disruption have been established. Restoration techniques tested include supplemental irrigation, soil amendments to stimulate soil microbe development and nutrient cycling, treatments to stabilize the soil surface, seeding to reestablish native species, and application of fertilizers to increase plant vigor and stimulate flowering and seed production. Initial data suggest that supplemental irrigation had the greatest impact on seedling germination, however germination varied greatly among the 14 native species tested. Wind erosion was successfully controlled by surface soil treatments. Fertilizer application tended to increase growth of invasive annuals but did little to stimulate vigor and reproduction of established shrubs.

Keywords: Mitigation, reclamation, image processing, remote sensing, deserts

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This abstract is being presented at: 10:30 AM in session:
RESTORATION ECOLOGY AND INVASIONS