Ontario Hydro must save costs on mown urban rights-of-way, and its conservation policy encourages native vegetation. Thus the Corporation commissioned a study to evaluate whether a community of sown native species of prairie affinity can inhibit tall woody species. The research involves 70, 5 x 5m plots on a gently sloping old-field site, on Bennington series silt loam, at Kitchener, Ontario. The plots have been surveyed annually since 1996 using 7 random, permanent 1.0 x 0.5 m quadrats per plot. In Fall 1996, seed of 7 locally native species of prairie affinity was collected in the Region of Waterloo.
Species were; Canada wild rye [Elymus canadensis L.], Indian grass [Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash], Big bluestem [Andropogon Gerardi Vitm.], Little bluestem [Schizacyrium scoparium Michx. (Nees)], Tick trefoil [Desmodium canadense (L.) DC.], Black-eyed Susan [Rudbeckia hirta L.| and Wild bergamot [Monarda fistulosa L.]. Sixty four plots were prepared and sown using 4 methods: 1] Fall 1996 glyphosate herbicide [1% in water applied at 380L/ha] and fall sowing, 2] Spring 1997 glyphosate and spring sowing, 3] Fall 1996 and spring 1997 rototilling and spring sowing, and 4] No preparation and fall sowing. Each preparation is managed in 4 ways: 1] Mowing, 2] Burning, 3] Mowing and burning and 4] No management. There are, additionally, 4 true controls neither sown nor managed, and 2 plots planted with plugs. Preliminary establishment results will be discussed in relation to weed competition arising from a soil seed bank that predates the last turning of the soil about 40 years ago.