Native species help land managers rehabilitate land  

Stand of indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans). (Photo courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Mar. 28, 2008

By Ryan Busby
Engineer Research and Development Center

To address military land management objectives, the Corps of Engineers has issued a new Public Works Technical Bulletin (PWTB) that provides an overview of native plants that have both remediation potential and land rehabilitation value.
 
These species can allow land managers to passively address soil contamination by selecting species that not only fit land rehabilitation objectives, but have proven abilities to reduce the offsite migration of soil contaminants commonly found on training lands. 
 
Species can be selected by contaminant, vegetation type and geographical region.  PWTB 200-1-53, "Overview of Native Species with Remediation Potential That Have Applicability to Land Rehabilitation Objectives," is available on the TECHINFO Web site, http://www.hnd.usace.army.mil/techinfo/CPW/pwtb.htm.
 
Military training and testing create unique problems for sustainable land management, such as causing disturbances that affect the functioning of training ecosystems, which can result in contamination of the environment.
   
Many sources of contamination are very small and do not result in adverse effects.  However, due to the size of military installations and training activities, the cumulative impact of multiple contaminant locations can be a potential source of problems if the contaminants are carried in runoff or leaching and end up concentrated in water that moves off site. 

The most important aspect of managing soil contamination is to first keep it from entering surface and ground water supplies, and then focus on remediating the contamination.
 
Because many of these small disturbances occur in areas where physical disturbance requires land rehabilitation, the opportunity exists to remedy contaminated areas without adding costs or manpower requirements. 
 
Land rehabilitation can include selection of plant species with proven contaminant remediation properties to complement already existing range seed mixes.  This not only provides desirable vegetative cover for soil stabilization and wildlife habitat, but also provides a means to passively reduce the availability of soil contaminants that might exist in these locations as well.
 
PWTB 200-1-53 provides an overview of such plant species.  These plants have been shown in scientific literature to have qualities favorable for reducing the availability of specific soil contaminants, either through degradation or stabilization. 
 
Species with these traits were reduced to include only those species native to the continental U.S. with wide geographic ranges, broad growth requirements, commercial availability and potential for success when used in land rehabilitation plantings.