Page 42 - Mar/Apr 2022 Outdoor Okahoma Magazine

the Red River. Heavy rainfall
can occasionally cause the JEnA DOnnELL/ODWC
river to rise and get out of
its banks and into the wet-
land units — sometimes for
prolonged periods.
“The river, and our prox-
imity to it, has created
really fertile soils in our
wetland units, which is a
huge benefit. But when the
river gets out of its banks
for extended periods, it can
bury desirable seed under
a layer of silt. In addition to
burying the good seed too
deep to germinate, flood-
ing from the river can also deposit less desirable seeds. plants are sprouting while they are still small seedlings
But if we can get three to four years of desirable seed is vital. It gives you a management leg up and may let
production using moist soil management, we typical- you get ahead of the undesirable plants with early con-
ly have a high enough density of desirable plants in the trol measures.”
seed bank that they can outcompete the less desirable.”
Although periodically covered by river silt during flood- Wetland Look-Alikes: Desirable and
ing events, the desirable seeds are still there deep in the Undesirable Plant Combos
seed bank. By disturbing the unit’s soil by disking after By late spring, wetland units generally have an estab-
it dries sufficiently, a manager can actually retrieve and lished plant community and are well on their way to
re-establish the hard-earned seed bank by redepositing producing food and cover for duck hunting season.
them back in the germination zone, depth-wise. But Banta regularly checks in as the growing season
Periodic mechanical soil disturbance also provides an progresses to see how the units are faring and if any
additional benefit. It sets back plant succession, favor- less-desirable plants have germinated since his last
ing a plant community of annual grasses and weeds that visit. During a recent check-in, he pointed out two sets
produce high volumes of nutritious seeds beneficial to of wetland look-alikes, each with a desirable and unde-
migrating waterfowl, as opposed to far less desirable sirable plant combination.
perennial plant communities that gradually become nat- Banta’s favorite wetland plant, barnyardgrass, produc-
urally established over time without soil disturbance. es a lot of high energy seeds — one healthy plant can
When managing the seed bank, knowledge is power. produce 750,000 to 1 million seeds — and provides a
Many native wetland plants can pull double-duty in a really stout mat of vegetation for invertebrates. But the
wetland and provide both seeds and vegetation mats plant can be easily misidentified for the less desirable
for invertebrate cover. But many plants – both desirable johnsongrass, a nonnative plant that can provide some
and undesirable – look very similar when they first ger- supplemental seed for ducks and vegetation cover for
minate. Banta has had to learn how to correctly identify invertebrates. Johnsongrass tends to become a mono-
freshly germinated plants and act quickly if undesirable culture, outcompeting other desirable plants and greatly
plants start sprouting. decreasing plant community diversity.
“Knowing which plants provide nutritious seeds for To distinguish the two grasses, Banta focuses on the
ducks and other wildlife, and which plants dominate your base of the stems. Barnyardgrass has flattened stems
units as they mature, is important. But knowing which and a light purple coloration at the base of the stem.

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