Plains rough fescue grassland restoration using natural regeneration after pipeline disturbances.

Plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii), once a dominant grassland in the Northern Great Plains, has been reduced to a fraction of its original extent by agricultural intensification and energy sector disturbances and has become a threatened community type. Despite thousands of kilometers of pipelines in grasslands, little is documented about long‐term restoration outcomes. This research assessed recovery of rough fescue grassland 6–21 years after pipeline construction with topsoil stripping and natural regeneration relative to undisturbed reference sites in south‐central Canada. Soil properties varied between pipelines and undisturbed prairie, although most were within theoretical values to support plant growth and development. Vegetation cover, species richness and Shannon diversity and evenness did not differ significantly between pipelines and undisturbed prairie. Multivariate analysis (multi‐response permutation procedure) showed plant community composition, and its dominant species differed significantly between pipelines and undisturbed prairie. Bray–Curtis dissimilarity indices showed dominant species and functional species groups on pipelines were more similar to undisturbed prairie than the undesirable species group. Presence of early‐ to late‐successional species and increasing F. hallii with pipeline age indicate restoration was possible with topsoil salvage and replacement, using natural regeneration as a revegetation method, but requires time to develop and restore a typical rough fescue grassland ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]