Restoring degraded plant communities is a global challenge and a major priority for land managers and conservationists. Degraded Wyoming big sagebrush communities (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) have high sagebrush cover with a depleted perennial herbaceous understory. They are widespread in western North America and are a priority for restoration because they provide habitat for sagebrush-associated species and an important forage base for livestock production. Mechanically reducing sagebrush with mowing has been attempted to restore the understory in these communities but often fails because large native perennial bunchgrasses do not increase and exotic annual grasses proliferate. Seeding large native perennial bunchgrasses after mowing sagebrush may increase their density or cover and thereby limit exotic annual grasses. Native perennial bunchgrasses are slow growing; thus, long-term studies are needed to evaluate this treatment strategy. We evaluated mowing followed by drill-seeding large native perennial bunchgrasses in southeastern Oregon for 11 yr post treatment. Large bunchgrass cover and density were approximately 2 × greater with mowing followed by seeding compared with the untreated control. However, mowing, with and without seeding, increased exotic annual grasses and decreased biological soil crusts. Sagebrush cover was less in mowed treatments compared with the untreated control, but sagebrush cover increased over time. Mowing and seeding native bunchgrasses was less successful than desired, particularly since exotic annual grasses increased substantially. This treatment may be improved by reducing the disturbance associated with mowing and drill seeding, decreasing exotic annual grass competition, and increasing the establishment of native perennial bunchgrasses. The results of our study indicate that seeding native bunchgrasses into degraded Wyoming big sagebrush communities has potential as a restoration treatment but needs refinement to improve success.

恢复退化的植物群落是一项全球性挑战，也是土地管理者和保护主义者的首要任务。降级怀俄明州大山艾树社区（蒿三齿SSP。wyomingensis[Beetle＆A. Young] SL Welsh）的鼠尾草遮盖物高，多年生草本植物枯竭。它们在北美西部广泛分布，是恢复工作的重点，因为它们为鼠尾草相关物种提供了栖息地，并且是畜牧生产的重要草料基地。已尝试通过机械方式减少割草的鼠尾草，以恢复这些社区的林下植被，但由于大型原生多年生束草没有增加且外来一年生禾草繁殖，因此经常失败。修剪鼠尾草后，播种大型原生多年生束草可能会增加其密度或覆盖度，从而限制了一年生异国草。原生多年生束草生长缓慢；因此，需要长期研究来评估这种治疗策略。我们对割草进行了评估，然后在俄勒冈州东南部进行了为期11年的播种，然后播种了多年生的大型原生多年生束草。与未处理的对照相比，修剪后播种的大束草覆盖度和密度大约高2倍。然而，有或没有播种的割草增加了一年生异国情调的草，减少了生物土壤结皮。与未经处理的对照相比，割草处理的鼠尾草覆盖物较少，但随着时间的推移，鼠尾草覆盖物增加。割草和播种本地束草并没有取得理想的效果，特别是因为一年生异国风情的草大大增加了。可以通过减少与割草和播种有关的干扰，减少异国情调的一年生草竞争和增加本地多年生束草的建立来改善这种处理。