RESEARCH SUMMARY 



The 30-acre (12-ha) planting was designed to test the appli- 

 cability of procedures recommended for improving deteriorated deer 

 winter ranges in southwestern Idaho by artificial revegetation . 

 Secondary objectives were to compare: (1) two planting methods — 

 direct seeding and transplanting; (2) two browse species — antelope 

 bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata [Pursh] DC.) and wedgeleaf ceano- 

 thus {Ceanothus cuneatus [Hook.] Nutt.); and (3) two bitterbrush 

 seed sources — southwestern Idaho and northwestern Nevada — for 

 both the seeding and transplanting methods. 



Competing vegetation was reduced by preparing scalps about 

 3-ft (1-m) square with hoes made from square-nosed shovels. 

 About 1,200 scalps per acre (3 000 per hectare) were prepared on a 

 spaced grid pattern of 6 ft (2 m) from center to center. Seeding 

 was done in late October and early November using hand-operated 

 seeders. Three spots were seeded near the center of each scalp 

 at a rate of 12 to 16 seeds per spot. Transplanting of bare-root 

 nursery stock (1-0) was done in April using planting spades. One 

 transplant was placed near the center of each scalp. 



Overall, the seeding treatments had a sixth-year survival of 

 80 percent; transplanting treatments had a sixth-year survival of 

 62 percent. Survival was calculated as the percentage of scalps 

 with surviving plants. Seeded bitterbrush had better survival 

 than bitterbrush transplants. The converse was true for wedge- 

 leaf ceanothus. Bitterbrush from local seed sources, whether 

 seeded or transplanted, outperformed other plants significantly 

 in survival and nonsignif icantly in height growth. 



The findings support the notion that adequate technology is 

 generally available for revegetating southwestern Idaho deer 

 winter ranges, and that inconsistent results are at least partly 

 due to improper application of recommended procedures. 



