UA Restoration and Revegetation Students Create Test Plots on the Preserve

The Preserve Vistoso Board is excited to share that we have been working hard to facilitate a partnership between the Town of Oro Valley and the University of Arizona for the benefit of the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve. That effort has led to a pilot garden plot developed by UA students under the direction of Dr. Rachel Mitchell, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Students in Dr. Mitchell’s Restoration and Revegetation class did a site assessment, identified issues and damages, set goals, and planned and developed four 10 by 10 garden plots which they will now monitor. Through a number of different soil amendments, they hope to learn what techniques work best to fix old golf courses. The test plots were all seeded with seedballs. They will protect the seeds and provide moisture and nutrients until conditions are right for germination. You can view the pilot garden near the former driving range and see a video of the students working on it here.

The arrangement between the Town and the University benefits the former through the provision of manpower and helpful information while the latter enjoys a living laboratory for research. The Preserve Vistoso Board hopes to expand this mutually beneficial relationship by funding independent student studies on the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve in the near future. More information will be available later this year.

If you’re out on the Preserve stop by and see how the project is going!