News
Native forbs provide important food and shelter resources for wildlife and are the component that adds species diversity to many native plant communities. This symposium provided an overview of some important aspects to consider when using native forbs in restoration and highlights recent work relevant to different phases of restoration.
This symposium covered a national U.S. approach to developing commercially available, locally adapted native seed for restoring resilient ecosystems. Five speakers contributed talks highlighting attributes of using and developing native seed, from wildland seed collection, to monitoring after restoration, to the history of native seed development by U.S. federal agencies.
A new review article is now available in Biodiversity and Conservation about seed production areas (SPAs) from Zinnen et al. (2021). The review synthesizes research about SPAs, as well as other literature applicable to the topic. It provides a comprehensive investigation into the SPA literature and highlights the disproportionate influence of SPAs on conservation and restoration outcomes.
Recently published research reveals that aspirin can do more than just heal your headache. It can also help with restoring ecosystems that have been damaged and establishing sustainable pastures. This study performed on native perennial grasses showed that very low concentrations of Salicylic acid, applied to the seed can improve plant survival.
Scientists have long recognized that rodents and other small mammals are such voracious seed predators that they could affect plant abundance in natural systems. However, many plant species produce so many more seeds than are necessary to replace and expand their populations that seed predation may have negligible effects on plant populations and communities…
In fall 2019, the Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC) launched a promising 5-year partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) to implement the Seeds of Success (SOS) Native Seed and Grassland Restoration Program. Our program focuses on the role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in ecological restoration, working in close partnership with FBIC on BLM and adjacent tribal lands on Montana’s Northern Great Plains.
Direct seeding has expanded as a method for ecological restoration on degraded areas with low natural regeneration potential in Brazil. Results demonstrate ecological and reduced costs, in addition to generating income and social opportunities for marginal communities that have preserved ecosystems and are now engaged in supplying seeds for a growing native seed market. In order to spread the use of this restoration strategy, a multiple-stakeholder initiative was created in 2019, focused on up-scaling adoption of the method and matching its growth with native seed production. Hence, we present the Seed Paths Initiative (Iniciativa Caminhos da Semente, in Portuguese), framing lessons learned and recommendations for structuring the seed production chain and expanding direct seeding adoption and its social benefits among restoration projects in Brazil.
INSR is pleased to announce that the First International Principles and Standards for Native Seeds in Ecological Restoration are now available as an Open Source Special Issue of Restoration Ecology.
To access the special issue, click on the image below.
The growing demand for native seeds in ecological restoration and rehabilitation has resulted in a $1 billion global industry in the sourcing, supply, and sale of native seeds. Until now, there has been little international guidance for ensuring native seeds have the same standards of quality assurance that are already regular practice in the crop and horticultural industries. Using the SER International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration as a foundation document, INSR synthesized general practices in the native seed supply chain. They derived the Principles and Standards for Native Seeds ("Seed Standards") from this synthesis. These practices and the underpinning science provide the basis for developing quality measures and guidance statements that are adaptable at the local, biome, or national scale. Importantly, the Seed Standards define what is considered native seed in ecological restoration and highlight the differences between native seeds versus seeds of improved genetics. The Seed Standards are not intended to be mandatory, however, the guidance statements provide the foundation upon which regulatory approaches can be developed by constituencies and jurisdictions.
In a critically endangered vegetation type within the mega-diverse fynbos biome in the Cape Region of South Africa, passive and active interventions were compared in terms of restoration success following removal of invasive Acacia saligna, since this ecosystem is a good example of where clearing alone has often failed to facilitate recovery of the native ecosystem.
In a recent special issue in Restoration Ecology, the main topics were seed dispersal and seed bank ecology. In one of the review papers published in that issue we synthesized the existing knowledge about the seed bank of various open habitats and the effect of climate change on them. Due to the very few direct climate manipulation studies in open habitats with respect to soil seed bank, we provided a new perspective to reveal the possible effect of climate change on the soil seed bank.
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of wild seeds are needed to restore plant ecosystems globally but over harvesting risks their depletion unless ethical seed-sourcing regulations are developed, Curtin University research has found. A paper, just published in journal Current Biology, concluded that inadequate regulatory frameworks controlling wild-seed sourcing, limited farming capacity and seed wastage are impeding moves towards the sustainable practice of native-seed collection.
Many arid land plants possess seed dormancy, enabling them to delay germination until receiving environmental cues that stimulate development. Dormant seeds within the soil create seed banks that are a valuable resource for regeneration of native plant communities after disturbance. Seed germination and soil seed bank research is important to better understand soil seed bank dynamics, appropriately select restoration seed mixes, and gauge the restoration potential contained within existing soil seed banks.
The Mediterranean Basin is one of the most important plant diversity hotspots worldwide; however, its sandy coasts are affected by strong erosive processes, also accentuated by the disappearance of dune and submerged vegetation caused by human exploitation. Therefore, in the Mediterranean area the plant species conservation and ecological habitat restoration are of major importance for sustainable development.
Advances in plant ecology and evolutionary biology have clear applications to plant materials choices for ecosystem management that may have long-term impacts on ecosystem resilience. There is a need to balance the preservation of locally adapted genes with the desire to develop native plant materials that are genetically diverse and can respond to ecosystem changes.
SECIL-Outão plant is located within a Natural Park and a Natura 2000 site, south-west Portugal. The exploitation area covers about 99 ha, which includes two active quarries, one for limestone and one for marl. Both quarries and the cement plant are surrounded by natural areas, which cover about 425 ha.
