Roadside Revegetation

PLANNING PHASE ONE: ORIENT
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Pollinator friendly. Reference the Ecoregional Workhorse and Pollinator Plant Selector
to determine if a species is beneficial to pollinators. Take note of plant flower colors as
a variety of colors will support a greater diversity of pollinating insects. Also identify
opportunities to increase the period of time flowers are available to pollinators (Figure
4-6). See Appendix A, I-35 Monarch Corridor Plant Lists: Workhorse Plant Species that
Support Pollinators. In addition to the Ecoregegional Workhorse and Pollinator Plant
Selector, other sources of reliable information, such as species distribution maps by
county from the PLANTS website, can give more detailed guidance to selection of
appropriate species.
4.6.2 SOILS ASSESSMENT
Understanding the soil characteristics of each reference site is essential to effectively define
DFCs and develop revegetation treatments. The soils report that is generated from the Web
Soil Survey website for a road project gives a close approximation of the characteristics of
undisturbed soils for the project area and should be checked in the field. It is important to
remember that the soils after road construction will not resemble the natural soils found in
the soil survey. For this reason, it is important to find disturbed reference sites that are similar
to the disturbance of the revegetation unit. The following information can be collected for
topsoil and subsoil:
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Soil texture (see Section 5.3 Available Water Storage and Accessibility)
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Rock fragments (see Section 5.3 Available Water Storage and Accessibility)
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Rooting depth (see Section 5.3 Available Water Storage and Accessibility)
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Topsoil depth (see Section 5.5 Nutrient Cycling)
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Nutrient levels (see Section 5.5 Nutrient Cycling)
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Soil structure (see Section 5.3 Available Water Storage and Accessibility)
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Litter and duff layers (see Section 5.4 Water Loss)
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Site organic matter (see Section 5.5 Nutrient Cycling)
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Infiltration rates (see Section 5.2 Water Input)
Collecting and interpreting soils information are described in Chapter 5.
4.6.3 POLLINATORS
Habitat Assessment
During the field review, an assessment of the pollinator habitat and pollinator species populations
is conducted for the project area. Pollinator habitat assessment includes evaluating
the road project plans within the context of the larger planning area for creating habitat
supportive for general and at-risk pollinator species. Table 4-6 is a checklist that can be used
to identify those factors important for creating pollinator-friendly habitat. Factors that limit
pollinator health or habitat can be mitigated or improved through management treatments
or practices which will be presented in Version 1.2.
Pollinator Monitoring
Revegetation projects, specific to improving pollinator habitat, may require a pre- and
post-construction assessment of pollinator species. Monitoring techniques for these assessments
are discussed in Chapter 12.
Roadside Revegetation: An Integrated Approach to Establishing Native Plants and Pollinator Habitat
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