At the time of transplanting (June 19) seedlings of many species were larger in compacted media than in uncompacted:
The type of medium did not have much of an effect on plant size:
Seedlings from compacted media maintained their larger size in the field:
But the effect of compaction diminished with time:
Plants from seedlings produced in the greenhouse medium tended to grow larger than from topsoil. Plants grew larger in untilled areas than in tilled:
It is generally know that prairie species establish best from seed when sown in a firm seed bed. It does seem that many of these actually benefit in the long term from growth in moderately compacted soils.
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