Implications for Practice:
- Native plant communities in oil-polluted desert ecosystems can be
useful indicators of the degree of pollution and stage of recovery of
impacted sites.
- The use of native plant species as phytoremediators to assist in
restoration of oil-polluted desert ecosystems is desirable because of
the ease of obtaining seeds and/or growing of plants prior to
transplanting into desired locations.
- If phytoremediator species are preferred for grazing by a wide range
of animals such as camels and goats, the protection from grazing is
necessary for succeeding in phytoremediation.
- A suitable supply of irrigation water during seedling establishment is
necessary unless adequate rainfall can be reliably predicted during
the plant establishment period.