Seeds of Success: A conservation and restoration investment in the future of <scp>U.S.</scp> lands

Barga, Sarah; Olwell, Peggy; Edwards, F. R.; Prescott, Leah; Leger, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1111/csp2.209

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…However, with adequate lead time, some native plant vendors can acquire desired species or collect from particular seed sources to meet provenance requirements (Apfelbaum and Haney, 2012). Furthermore, ambitious native seed banking initiatives such as the European Native Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET) and Seeds of Success (SOS) in the United States -a massive native seed collection program led by the Bureau of Land Management with many agency and non-profit partners -are working to improve access to genetically diverse native seed for research, conservation, and restoration plant materials development (ENSCONET, 2009;Haidet and Olwell, 2015;Rivière et al, 2018;Barga et al, 2020).…”

Section: Wild-collecting Vs Purchasing Seedsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Need to Seed? Ecological, Genetic, and Evolutionary Keys to Seed-Based Wetland Restoration

Kettenring

Tarsa

2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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As we approach the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), there is renewed focus on improving wetland restoration practices to reestablish the habitat and climate mitigation functions and services that wetlands provide. A first step in restoring these functions and services is to reestablish the native vegetation structure and composition through strategic seed-based approaches. These approaches should be driven by ecological, genetic, and evolutionary principles, along with consideration for economics, logistics, and other social constraints. Effective seed-based approaches must consider the chosen species, seed sourcing, dormancy break and germination requirements, seed enhancement technologies, potential invaders, seeding densities, and long-term monitoring. Choice of species should reflect historical plant communities and future environmental conditions, species that support functional goals including invasion resistance, and seed availability constraints. Furthermore, seeds should be sourced to ensure ample genetic diversity to support multifunctionality and evolutionary capacity while also considering the broad natural dispersal of many wetland species. The decision to collect wild seeds or purchase seeds will also impact species choice and genetic diversity, which can have cascading effects for functional goals. To ensure seedling establishment, seed dormancy should be addressed through dormancy breaking treatments and the potentially narrow germination requirements of some species will require targeted sowing timing and location to align with safe sites. Other seed enhancements such as priming and coatings are poorly developed for wetland restoration and their potential for improving establishment is unknown. Because wetlands are highly invasion prone, potential invaders and their legacies should be addressed. Seeding densities should strike a balance between outcompeting invaders and preserving valuable seed resources. Invader control and long-term monitoring is key to improving revegetation and restoration. Here, we review scientific advances to improve revegetation outcomes, and provide methods and recommendations to help achieve the desired goals. Gaps in knowledge about seed-based wetland restoration currently exist, however, and untested practices will certainly increase risks in future efforts. These efforts can be used to better understand the ecological, genetic, and evolutionary processes related to wetland seeds, which will bring us one step closer to seed-based restoration of functions and services needed for human and ecological communities.

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Section: Wild-collecting Vs Purchasing Seedsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Need to Seed? Ecological, Genetic, and Evolutionary Keys to Seed-Based Wetland Restoration

Kettenring

Tarsa

2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…If the provenance details were more readily available across multiple producers, practitioners would then have the option of sourcing outside their region, and/or the opportunity to use environmental versus geographic distances in their seed choices; and/or to screen multiple sources for the best fit for their project location (Houseal and Smith, 2000;Havens et al, 2015;Leger et al, 2021). Seeds banked in regional and/or national seedbanks can provide the foundation for climate resilient restoration, as multiple species are collected across wide geographic areas (Chapman et al, 2019;Barga et al, 2020), and provenance information on each collection includes information on the location, as well as biotic and abiotic characteristics of the site. Moreover, a central database of seed origin and availability would make seed purchases easier and could be a tool for the industry for tracking demand (e.g., https:// appliedeco.org/restoration/nativeseednetwork/).…”

Section: Recommendations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed sourcing strategies for ecological restoration under climate change: A review of the current literature

Vitt

Finch²,

Barak³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Climate change continues to alter the seasonal timing and extremes of global temperature and precipitation patterns. These departures from historic conditions along with the predicted variability of future climates present a challenge to seed sourcing, or provenance strategy decisions, within the practice of ecological restoration. The “local is best” for seed sourcing paradigm is predicated upon the assumption that ecotypes are genetically adapted to their local environment. However, local adaptations are potentially being outpaced by climate change, and the ability of plant populations to naturally migrate or shift their distribution accordingly may be limited by habitat fragmentation. Restoration practitioners and natural area managers have a general understanding of the importance of matching the inherent adaptations of source populations with the current and/or future site conditions where those seeds or propagules are planted. However, for many species used in seed-based restoration, there is a lack of empirical evidence to guide seed sourcing decisions, which are critical for the longevity and ecological function of restored natural communities. With the goal of characterizing, synthesizing, and applying experimental research to guide restoration practice, we conducted a systematic review of the literature on provenance testing of taxa undertaken to inform seed sourcing strategies for climate resiliency. We found a strong bias in the choice of study organism: most studies have been conducted on tree species. We also found a strong bias regarding where this research has been conducted, with North America (52%) and Europe (31%) overrepresented. Experiments were designed to assess how propagule origin influences performance across both climatic (26%) and geographic (15%) distance, with some studies focused on determining how climate normal conditions (39%) impacted performance related to survivorship, growth and other parameters. We describe the patterns and gaps our review identified, highlight specific topics which require further research, and provide practical suggestions of immediate and longer-term tools that restoration practitioners can use to guide and build resilient natural communities under future climate scenarios.

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“…The Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management Seeds of Success (SOS) program, in collaboration with the NPGS, collects and conserves the most comprehensive collection of native plant seeds in the United States and supports native plant restoration, management, and research. Targets for PGR collection for the SOS program include US native plant species collected for land restoration and other uses (Barga et al., 2020). The acquisition priorities for SOS thus emphasize US native species, including CWR that add important diversity to the NPGS PGR collections (Greene, Carver et al., 2019).…”

Section: Case Studies For the Effects Of Climate Change On Pgr Manage...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Safeguarding plant genetic resources in the United States during global climate change

Volk¹,

Carver²,

Irish³

et al. 2023

Crop Science

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Plant genetic resources (PGR) underpin the security of global agriculture. Rapid global climate change presents formidable challenges for ex situ and in situ PGR management programs that operate over extended timeframes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) maintains more than 605,000 PGR accessions representing over 16,300 plant species in 20 genebank locations. These PGR are maintained in cold storage as seeds and vegetative tissues that must be periodically regenerated; or as actively growing plants in fields, greenhouses, screenhouses, and in vitro; or in some cases within in situ reserves. The complicated relationships between crops and their growth environments present unique challenges regarding PGR maintenance under a changing climate. Here we present potential effects of climate change on ex situ PGR maintenance and reproductive success, pollinators and beneficial insects, pathogens and pests, infrastructure considerations, and wild populations within NPGS in situ reserves. We provide a novel tool that summarizes past US temperature and precipitation data alongside future climate projections to guide ongoing planning for the effects of climate change for NPGS genebanks throughout the United States. A series of case studies exemplify instances where climate change has already impacted NPGS PGR management. Ongoing improvements to NPGS PGR management in response to climate change require continued observations of the current effects, careful and innovative planning, and creative approaches to ensure that PGR are successfully conserved for future generations.

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Seeds of Success: A conservation and restoration investment in the future of U.S. lands

Cited by 8 publications

References 49 publications

Need to Seed? Ecological, Genetic, and Evolutionary Keys to Seed-Based Wetland Restoration

Need to Seed? Ecological, Genetic, and Evolutionary Keys to Seed-Based Wetland Restoration

Seed sourcing strategies for ecological restoration under climate change: A review of the current literature

Safeguarding plant genetic resources in the United States during global climate change

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