The Use of Native Plants for Revegetation along West Virginia ...

cover prior to plot establishment compared to Buckhannon and Weston, and the seeded natives
were better able to become established with a lack of competing vegetation.
The results of this portion of the study partially concur with previous studies, which are a bit
contradictory themselves. Thompson et al.’s (2001) finding that early on (after two years) native
species establishment is better promoted by disturbance is similar to the findings of this study.
However, Leishman and Thomson (2005) found physical disturbance had no effect on survival
and growth of either native or non-native species, but fertility did increase survival and growth of
non-natives. This also concurs with the results of this study as it was found that fertilizer did
increase total cover, which was primarily composed of non-native species.
4.3. Objective 3
This objective involved the determination of soil properties at each of the six sites to assess
the effect of soils on plant establishment. Soil pH ranged from 5.1 to 7.1 (Table 23). Electrical
conductivity (EC), which serves as a measure of soluble salts in the soil, is an important
measurement for roadside soils due to the application of de-icing salts in the winter. In West
Virginia, bottom ash, which contains many trace elements and salts, from local power plants is
used as a major de-icing material on highways. These salts can build up in the soil and
negatively affect plant establishment and growth. All sites had low electrical conductivities
except the Elkins site, which was almost 10 times higher than the other sites surveyed. The
Elkins site is young and on grade with the road. Since the sampling locations at that site are
approximately 10 meters from the road it is not believed that the higher salt content is a product
of de-icing salts and/or bottom ash applications, but rather from the weathering and release of
ions contained in the rocks that were used to build the road. The Elkins site is highly compacted
and contained large amounts of shale rock fragments in the soil. Because of this, it is believed
that leaching has not been sufficient yet to remove these ions from the soils. Over the next
couple of years, as weathering and subsequent leaching occurs, the salts should be washed from
the soil profile resulting in lower electrical conductivities.
Cation exchange capacity (CEC) and base saturation (BS) were moderate across most sites,
and higher CECs were found to be correlated with higher total plant covers. Parkersburg and
Weston CEC values were two times more, at 19.2 and 19.7 cmol/kg, than Baker and Hazelton
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