PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - W.C. Bramble
AU  - W.R. Byrnes
TI  - Thirty Years of Research on Development of Plant Cover on an Electric Transmission Right-of-Way
AID  - 10.48044/jauf.1983.019
DP  - 1983 Mar 01
TA  - Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF)
PG  - 67--74
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
4099  - http://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/9/3/67.short
4100  - http://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/9/3/67.full
SO  - JOA1983 Mar 01; 9
AB  - A study of vegetation development and production of wildlife food and cover has been made on an electric transmission right-of-way (ROW) in central Pennsylvania over a period of 30 years. Vegetation was maintained with herbicide sprays of 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, and ammonium sulfamate (AMS) compared with hand-cutting on separate areas assigned in a randomized block design over a 3-mile segment of ROW. A low plant cover resistant to tree invasion was developed which changed from dominant forest plants (bracken, vernal sedge, loosestrife, witch-hazel, and blueberry) to a relatively stable proclimax maintained by spraying and which was dominated by a combination of forest plants plus plants of openings (sweetfern, blackberry, dewberry, goldenrods, and hayscented fern). All of these dominant plants spread vegetatively by rhizomes or shallow roots to produce a mosaic pattern of irregular patches. Wildlife food and cover was increased on all areas and valuable shrubby edges developed. This produced a high wildlife habitat rating for the ROW as compared with the adjoining forest.