Evaluating the Success of Seed Sowing in a New England Grassland Restoration

ABSTRACT: Grassland habitat is declining in the northeastern United States, leading to a decline in associated native species. Consequently, there is considerable interest by land managers in conserving and restoring grassland habitats in the Northeast. However, unlike the Great Plains and Europe, quantitative monitoring of restoration sites is uncommon, making it difficult to improve new restoration projects. Here we evaluate a grassland restoration in Waterford, Connecticut, to determine if mechanical clearing of woody vegetation combined with sowing 23 native grasses and forbs led to successful establishment of these species. We also compared cover, diversity, and colonization by exotic and woody species in planted and unplanted areas over time. In the third and fifth growing seasons after planting in 2006, we sampled the vegetation in the planted site, an unplanted zone within the planted grassland, and an adjacent unplanted grassland. Twenty of the 23 sown species established by 2010, and sown specie...