Mt. St. Helens Ash: Considerations of its fallout on rangelands

Sneva, F.A. and Britton, C.M. and Mayland, H.F. and Buckhouse, J. and Evans, R.A. and Young, J.A. and Vavra, M. (1982) Mt. St. Helens Ash: Considerations of its fallout on rangelands. Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Special Report No. 650. 29 pp.

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Abstract

Field and laboratory studies were conducted on volcanic ash from
Yakima, Moses Lake, Spokane, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho, three weeks
after the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mt. St. Helens in southwestern
Washington. These studies examined 1) the chemical, physical, and water
retentivity properties of the ash, 2) the effect of the ash upon germination
and emergence of crested wheatgrass and cheatgrass, 3) the impact of ash
upon in vitro digestion of common forages fed to cattle and the rate-of-passage
of ash in steers, and 4) the influence of the ash layer on water
infiltration into a range soil and the amount of sediments in the runoff
water. In addition to the above short term studies, small field plots of
various ash treatments were initiated to monitor the effects of the ash
over the long term, both on individual native plants and the native and
seeded plant community. These field studies are being conducted in an
environment similar to that on which the ash fallout occurred and will
allow ash response to be compared with absolute control areas of no ash.

Item Type:	Technical Bulletin
NWISRL Publication Number:	0615
Subjects:	Mass Import - unclassified
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:57
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2016 16:25
Item ID:	1128
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1128