Planting native riparian trees can help recover wildlife and fish habitat on a local scale, when full recovery of natural processes that sustain riparian ecosystems is infeasible. To help improve planting success, we determined which environmental factors and management practices most influenced survival of planted Populus fremontii (Fremont cottonwood) in a field experiment on the San Rafael River, Utah, U.S.A. We planted 474 approximately 2‐m‐tall trees and tracked survival for 1.25 years. We used logistic regression to evaluate whether tree height, elevation above the river channel, distance to existing cottonwood or Salix exigua (coyote willow), soil conductivity, soil texture, planting depth, planting method (mechanical auger vs. hand‐digging), and provision of natural and commercial supplements affected survival probability. Survival probability decreased with elevation above the river channel bottom and was greater in auger‐dug than hand‐dug holes. Survival probability was lower in soils with the highest salinity levels and was lower in sandy soils than soils with silt and clay. Survival may be improved by planting well above the channel to avoid flooding impacts but within 2 m above the channel in auger‐dug holes to ensure access to soil moisture. Testing soil salinity and texture in areas with suitable elevation could also help improve survival. Approximately 35% of trees survived to the end of the study period, indicating that planting can help recover riparian habitat locally, especially if survival is improved in future planting efforts. However, full recovery of desired riparian habitat throughout the floodplain will require natural flows.

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沙漠河恢复工程中杨木种植成活的决定因素

当无法完全恢复维持河岸生态系统的自然过程时，种植当地河岸树木可以帮助当地恢复野生动植物和鱼类栖息地。为了帮助提高种植成功率，我们在美国犹他州圣拉斐尔河上进行了田间试验，确定了哪些环境因素和管理措施对种植的杨树（Fremont杨木）的生存影响最大，我们种植了474棵约2米高的树木并进行了追踪生存1.25年。我们使用逻辑回归来评估树木的高度，河道上方的海拔，与现有三角叶杨或柳柳的距离（土狼柳），土壤电导率，土壤质地，播种深度，播种方法（机械钻与人工挖土）以及提供天然和商业补品都会影响存活率。生存概率随河道底部以上高度的增加而降低，而在螺旋挖凿中的生存概率大于手工挖凿的孔。在含盐量最高的土壤中，存活率较低，而在沙质土壤中，其存活率则低于含粉尘和粘土的土壤。为了避免洪水的影响，可在河道上方播种，但要在河道上方2 m之内的螺旋挖孔中，以确保获得土壤水分，从而提高生存率。在海拔适当的地方测试土壤盐分和质地也可以帮助提高生存率。到研究期结束时，大约35％的树木得以幸存，表明种植可以帮助当地恢复河岸生境，特别是如果在将来的种植工作中可以提高生存率的话。但是，要在整个洪泛区完全恢复所需的河岸生境，将需要自然流量。