Effects of Hay and Straw Mulches on the Establishment of Seeded Grasses and Legumes on Rangeland and a Coal Strip Mine

Straw and grass-hay mulches at rates of 1,120 and 3,360 kg/ha were applied to the surface after seeding or incorporated into the soil before seeding for 3 consecutive years of planting at Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) near Nunn, Colorado, and at Colorado Yampa Coal Company mine (CYCC) near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Averaged across 3 years, the stand ratings of Psathyrostachys juncea (Fisch.) Neveski, the only species seeded at CPER, were significantly better for the check (no mulch) treatment than for any mulch treatment. At CYCC, average stand ratings were significantly better than the check when 1,120 kg/ha of straw mulch was applied to the surface after seeding. The species that consistently had the best stand ratings at CYCC were Astragalus cicer L., Bromus biebersteinii Roem and Schult., B. inermis Leyss., B. marginatus Nees, Elytrigia intermedia (Host) Nevski, E. intermedia subsp. barbulato (Schur) A. Löve, Medicago falcata L., M. sativa L., and Phleum pratense L. No erosion from the plots by either wind or water was observed regardless of mulch treatments.