TECHNICAL NOTE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service Boise, Idaho – Salt Lake City, Utah TN PLANT MATERIALS NO. 38 OCTOBER 2011 REVISION DESCRIPTION, PROPAGATION, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF WETLAND - RIPARIAN GRASS AND GRASS-LIKE SPECIES IN THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST J. Chris Hoag, NRCS, Aberdeen, Idaho (Ret.) Derek Tilley, Agronomist, NRCS, Aberdeen, Idaho Dan Ogle, Plant Materials Specialist, NRCS, Boise, Idaho Loren St. John, PMC Team Leader, NRCS, Aberdeen, Idaho A healthy wetland system with a diverse plant community. Photo by Derek Tilley This technical note describes propagation protocols and establishment methods and considerations for wetland and riparian area creation and enhancement. It provides species descriptions for several wetland grass and grass-like species commonly used in the Intermountain West. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 DEFINING RIPARIAN ZONES 5 WETLAND INDICATOR CATEGORIES 8 DIRECT SEEDING 9 Seeding Grasses 9 Seeding Grass-like Wetland Species 10 Hydroseeding 10 TRANSPLANTS 11 Green House Plant Production 11 Wildings 12 Rhizomes 12 Wetland Sod 13 WETLAND TRANSPLANT ESTABLISHMENT 13 WATER MANIPULATION 14 SUMMARY 15 PLANT DATASHEETS 17 NATIVE SPECIES Beckmannia syzigachne American Sloughgrass 18 Calamagrostis canadensis Bluejoint Reedgrass 20 Carex aquatilis Water Sedge 22 Carex nebrascensis Nebraska Sedge 24 Deschampsia cespitosa Tufted Hairgrass 26 Distichlis spicata Inland Saltgrass 29 Eleocharis palustris Creeping Spikerush 31 Glyceria elata Mannagrass 33 Juncus balticus Baltic Rush 35 Schoenoplectus acutus Hardstem Bulrush 38 Schoenoplectus maritimus Cosmopolitan Bulrush 40 Schoenoplectus pungens Threesquare Bulrush 42 Spartina pectinata Prairie Cordgrass 44 Typha latifolia Cattail 46 3 INTRODUCED SPECIES Agrostis gigantea Redtop 48 Alopecurus arundinaceus Creeping Foxtail 51 Elymus hoffmanii RS Hybrid Wheatgrass 54 Phleum pretense Timothy 57 Thinopyrum ponticum Tall Wheatgrass 60 APPENDIX Table 1. Species Descriptions 63 Table 2. Species Adaptation 64 Table 3. Seeding and Transplanting Information 65 REFERENCES 66 VENDORS LIST 67 4 INTRODUCTION periphyton serves as an important food source Wetland grass and grass-like species, including for invertebrates, tadpoles, and some fish. It can sedges (Carex spp.), spikerushes (Eleocharis also absorb contaminants; removing them from spp.), bulrushes (Scirpus spp.) and rushes the water column and limiting their movement (Juncus spp.), are critical components of riparian through the environment. and wetland revegetation for several reasons. The above ground biomass provides roughness Defining Riparian Planting Zones that cause stream velocity to decrease and Establishment of riparian and wetland plants sedimentation to occur. Because of their fast depends largely on proper selection of species, growing and dense root systems, sedges and plant material procurement and handling, site rushes are especially valuable for stream bank preparation, and establishment techniques. The and shoreline stabilization. Grasses and grass- success of a project is dependent on proper like species also provide wildlife habitat for a planning and the complete integration of these variety of terrestrial and aquatic species. factors. Additionally, many wetland plant species create a root matrix used by microbes that capture In a generalized sense, there are 5 planting zones pollutants, providing a buffer between runoff and in a riparian area beginning near the permanently downstream water ways. inundated toe zone and proceeding upslope to the rarely flooded upland zone (figure 1). When Wetland plant root systems are important means planning a project, it is important to examine the of stabilizing degraded sites. Researchers have existing vegetation and its respective locations in found that Nebraska sedge (Carex nebrascensis) relationship to the stream and water table. and Baltic rush (Juncus balticus), produce Planting wetland species in their natural position approximately 212 and 72 ft/in3 of roots in the along a shoreline gradient increases the chance top 16 inches of the soil profile respectively. In of successful establishment, and ensures the comparison, the upland grass, Kentucky longevity of the planting. bluegrass (Poa pratensis) has 19 ft/in3 of roots in the same soil profile. Using these densely rooted It is useful to find a bench mark site. A reference species for soil bioengineering increases the site similar to the project site should be located strength and structure of the soil, and thereby to determine site potential. Attempt to match the reduces stream bank erosion. Most soil different species naturally growing in the bioengineering applications emphasize the use of reference site. Look for wetland herbaceous woody riparian plants; however, using plants in all of the riparian zones present. Deep herbaceous wetland plants in conjunction with water wetland plants such as bulrush larger woody species is significantly more (Schoenoplectus spp.) and cattail (Typha spp.) effective for stream bank stabilization than using can act as a buffer, reducing the velocity of woody species alone. stream flow that intercept the bank. They survive and thrive in areas where woody plants will not Water purification is a natural function of grow. Shallow water species such as sedges wetlands. Wetland plants are widely used for (Carex spp.) and rushes (Juncus spp.) are constructed wetland systems (CWS) and buffer important for strengthening and holding stream strips. Wetland plants provide habitat for banks with their dense root systems. Wetland colonizing microbial populations which live on herbaceous species can be found throughout the the plant roots and breakdown various nutrients stream bank cross section, although most found in the water. The above-ground biomass emergent aquatic plants are found in the toe also serves as nursery sites for periphyton, a zone. Hoag (2001) provides additional details on complex mixture of algae, cyanobacteria, water levels in the riparian planting zones. heterotrophic microbes, and detritus. The 5 Figure 1. A general depiction of a riparian area from the toe zone to the upland zone. (From Hoag, 2001). Riparian areas can be viewed as a series of typically a dry terrace which is only inundated hydrologic zones based on inundation levels and during flood events. Zone 6 is the upland zone durations (Figure 2). Zones 1, 2 and 3 are part of which is seldom or never inundated with water. the toe and bank zones. Zone 1 is the deep water pool. This area is a permanent pool reaching 3 or Figure 2 shows the hydrologic zones found in the more feet in depth. Zone 2 is the shallow water riparian planting section of a shoreline or stream bench. This is the beginning of the fluctuating bank. Bank full discharge elevation is typically water area and is typically 2 to 18 inches deep. found at the top of hydrologic zone 3. Zone 3 is the shallow water fringe. This area is 0 to 2 inches deep with fluctuating water levels and is regularly inundated. Zone 4 is the shoreline fringe, a permanently moist zone which is periodically inundated with water. Zone 5 is Figure 2. Hydrologic zones for planting herbaceous species in the Intermountain West. Drawing by Derek Tilley, based on Ogle and Hoag, 2000. Zone 1= Deep water pool; Zone 2=Shallow water bench; Zone 3= Shallow Water Fringe; Zone 4= Shoreline Fringe; Zone 5=Terrace; Zone 6= Upland. Not all riparian or wetland areas will contain all Figure 3 shows a riparian area displaying all of of the zones mentioned. Rocky areas and steep the major riparian zones from the toe zone to the slopes often preclude one or more zones. A cut upland zone; however not all zones are present bank could produce a stream profile with a toe on each side of the stream. zone cutting straight to an upland area. Figure 3. Several riparian zones are evident in this photo from Sheridan Creek, Montana. Note that the far bank does not have a significant overbank zone. Photo by Chris Hoag Indicator Categories found in wetlands), and a negative sign indicates Plant species are classified based on their a frequency toward the lower end of the category likelihood to occur in wetland or upland (less frequently found in wetlands). environments (Table 1). The different categories reflect the range of estimated probabilities The wetland indicator categories should not be (expressed as a frequency of occurrence) of a equated to degrees of wetness. Many obligate species occurring in wetlands versus non- wetland species occur in permanently or semi- wetlands across the entire distribution of the permanently flooded wetlands, but a number of species. A frequency, for example, of 67-99% obligates also occur in and some are restricted to (Facultative Wetland) means that 67 to 99% of wetlands which are only temporarily or occurrence would be in wetlands. Positive (+) or seasonally flooded. The facultative upland negative (-) signs are used with the Facultative species include plants which may be adapted to Indicator categories to more specifically define exist in a number of sites (including wetlands), the regional frequency of occurrence in wetlands. to species in which the plants always occurs in The positive sign indicates a frequency toward wetlands. the higher end of the category (more frequently 8 Table 1. Wetland Indicator Codes and probability values (USDA-NRCS, 2011) Indicator Code Wetland Type Comments OBL Obligate Wetland Occurs almost always (estimated probability 99%) under natural conditions in wetlands. FACW Facultative Wetland Usually occurs