RESTORING NATIVE PERENNIAL GRASSES TO RURAL ROADSIDES IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA - ESTABLISHMENT AND EVALUATION

Along rural roadsides of the Sacramento Valley of California, we seede d native and non-native perennial grasses to gauge their potential val ue in roadside vegetation management programs. In trial I (polyculture s), three seeded complexes and a control (resident vegetation only) we re tested. Each seeded plant complex included a different mix of peren nial grasses seeded into each of several roadside topographic zones. T he seeded levels of plant complex were: native perennial grasses 1 (8 species); native perennial grasses 2 (13 species); and non-native pere nnial grasses (3 species). In trial II, plots were seeded to monocultu ral plots of 15 accessions of native Californian and three cultivars o f non-native perennial grasses. Plots in both trials were seeded durin g January 1992 and evaluated for three successive years.