Register now for the Society for Ecological Restoration’s 2021 Virtual Conference on June 21-24, 2021 with weekly Field Trip Fridays from around the world beginning May 7 and continuing through June 18. Workshops, sessions, and other events will feature topics on all aspects of ecological restoration.
Aspects of the native seed supply chain: needs assessments, sourcing, collecting, production, testing, and use, will be highlighted in field trips, workshops, sessions, and volunteer papers along with dedicated discussion periods throughout the conference! Native Seed Sessions are described below:
S28: US National Seed Strategy: First 5 years and what the future holds
Organizer: Patricia De Angelis, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA
June 22 8:15 to 9 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC -4.00)
This session reviews progress under the National Seed Strategy and efforts to expand our work and partners to meet significantly increasing demand for native plants needed to restore resilient ecosystems, including the recently announced study on native seed needs being conducted by the National Academy of Sciences.
Presentations:
Goal 1: Assessment - Assessing supply and demand for native seed in the United States
Kayri Havens, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois, USA
Goal 2: Science-based approach for selecting the right seed for the right place at the right time
Lesley DeFalco, US Geological Survey, Henderson, Nevada, USA
Goal 3: Decision tools for managers
Vicky Erickson, USDA Forest Service, Portland, Oregon, USA
Goal 4: Communications: Fostering progress as a collaborative effort
Patricia De Angelis, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA
Case Study: The Mid Atlantic Regional Seed Bank: A case study in actualizing the National Seed Strategy
Edward Toth, City of New York, Department of Parks, New York, USA
Seeding the future
Peggy Olwell, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC, USA
Session Abstract:
A broad coalition of Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) Federal government agencies and cooperators released the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration (National Seed Strategy) in 2015 to meet an increasing demand to restore native plant communities altered by natural or human-caused events, especially important, given the greater frequency and intensity of wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. The National Seed Strategy has built significant momentum to guide ecological restoration across large landscapes by helping partners work more effectively together to build a continuous supply of locally adapted plants to restore U.S. lands. The Strategy provides a national framework that addresses four goals: (1) identifying seed needs, (2) conducting needed research, (3) developing tools for land managers, and (4) developing communication strategies. This symposium will focus on progress made under the four goals and explore future directions. The first five years saw advances in interagency and cross-sector collaboration to convey why “local matters” and why getting “the right plants” takes time, amidst plant blindness and lack of funding. The coming decade challenges us to intensify cross-sector efforts at different scales (local, regional, national) to address the many needs and specific project objectives (habitat for imperiled species versus forage for domesticated animals versus erosion control) to develop native plant materials for restoration of resilient native plant communities into the future.
S26: True green infrastructure: Native plant materials from wildland seed to restoration
Organizer: Peggy Olwell, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC, USA
June 22 from 9:15 to 10 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC -4.00)
Globally, our ability to restore resilient ecosystems depends on national programs that develop commercially available, locally adapted native plant materials/seed; this symposium will explore the program as a model for others and discuss the need to expand efforts and partners to meet the significantly increasing demand for restoring resilient ecosystems.
Presentations:
Seeds of Success: A conservation and restoration investment in the future of US lands.
Sarah Barga, University of Nevada-Reno and US Forest Service, Boise, Idaho, USA
Great Basin seed transfer zone research summary
Francis Kilkenny, US Forest Service, Boise, Idaho, USA
Growing natives
Jerry Benson, BFI Native Seeds LLC, Moses Lake, Washington, USA
Native seed production tools to procure, increase and distribute source-identified seed via seed transfer zones at an ecoregional scale in western USA
Anne Halford, Bureau of Land Management, Boise, Idaho, USA
Resiliency and regulation: Creative native plant revegetation
Lynda K. Moore, USDA Forest Service, Portland, Oregon, USA
Metrics for seeding success revealed from intensive monitoring of the 2014 Soda megafire
Matthew J. Germino, U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Boise, ID, USA
Session abstract:
Our ability to restore resilient native plant communities and functioning ecosystems is being strained by the increasing rate of extreme weather events and the lack of commercially available, locally adapted native plant materials/seed. In 2020 alone, almost 9 million acres of U.S. land burned, making the need for locally adapted native seed even more imperative. The U.S. Congress directed Bureau of Land Management to establish a native plant materials development program in 2001. A program from wild seed to restoration was developed, including a national wildland seed collection project, several regional research consortiums, a network of native seed producers, seed procurement tools, seed storage facilities, seeding prescriptions, and restoration monitoring after large wildfires. BLM and its partners have made more than 25,000 native seed collections of over 5,000 taxa from 43 states. Research has run the gamut from germination to genetics and the development of seed transfer zones. Growers are working on over 250 different taxa. Seed procurement tools have been developed for over 70 forbs and 41 grasses in the western US. Seeding prescriptions and restoration techniques are being advanced, and monitoring of post fire restoration for mega wildfires is in process. The commercial development of locally adapted native seed can take between 10-20 years per taxa. This symposium will review this program as a model for others and explore the need to expand our efforts and partners to work concurrently on the various aspects of native seed development to meet the significantly increasing demand for restoring resilient ecosystems.
S21: Restoring understory plant diversity: Considerations when incorporating native forbs in restoration
Organizer: Sarah Barga, USDA Forest Service, Boise, Idaho, USA
June 22 from 10:15 to 11 AM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC -4.00)
This symposium provides an overview of some important aspects to consider when using native forbs in restoration and highlights recent work relevant to different phases of the native plant materials development process.
Presentations:
Herbaceous understory regeneration from seed in ancient woodlands of temperate Europe
Cristina Blandino, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Seed increase of annual forbs and other considerations
Tara de Queiroz, University of Nevada-Reno, USA
A climate- and trait-based approach to restoration in the Great Basin, USA
Alison Agneray, US Forest Service, Reno, Nevada, USA
Forb common garden research to inform seed transfer guidance for restoration
Sarah Barga, US Forest Service, Boise, Idaho, USA
Wildflower strips in agri-environmental schemes and their benefits for wild bees
Anita Kirmer and Lea Schubert, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Bernberg, Germany
Restoring native grasslands and grassy woodlands: An Australia perspective
Paul Gibson-Roy, Kalbar Resources, LTD, Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia
Session abstract:
Native forbs provide important food and shelter resources for wildlife and are the component that adds species diversity to many native plant communities. While past restoration research has focused mainly on the grass and woody components of native plant communities, more recent research has strengthened our understanding of how native forbs will fit within the native plant materials development process. This symposium highlights recent work relevant to different phases of the restoration process and will provide an overview of some important aspects to consider when using native forbs in restoration.