Native seed collection: myths and best practices

Webinar Link: https://vimeo.com/1039782218/274c828fc7?share=copy%20(Open%20access,%202.2024)

This webinar will explore the myths and best practices of native seed collection and use. Participants will gain insight into the key differences between agronomic and native seeds, highlighting how native seeds exemplify ecological resilience, foster biodiversity, and thrive in local ecosystems.

Dr. Holly Abbandonato is a Plant Ecologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada (Atlantic), where she has worked since 2022. She earned her PhD in Earth and Environmental Science from the University of Pavia in 2017, following an M.Sc. from the Arctic University of Norway in 2014. She also holds three degrees from the University of New Brunswick: a BScENR in Environment and Natural Resources (2012), a BSc in Biology (2011), and a BA in Anthropology (2011). Dr. Abbandonato serves on the Steering Committee for Canada’s National Native Seed Strategy. Her current research focuses on salt marsh restoration and carbon sequestration in Atlantic Canada.

Members Only: Insight into Direct Seed Harvest for Ecological Restoration

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/665158/Members-Only-Insight-into-Direct-Seed-Harvest-for-Ecological-Restoration.htm%20(Members%20only,%202.2024)

Webinar description: Watch this engaging webinar that delves into the nuanced world of seed sourcing methodologies, comparing directly harvested seed with native seed production through propagation or farming. This session unravels the fundamental differences between seed harvest and collection methods, exploring the strengths and potential barriers associated with direct seed harvesting. Discover the intricate technical steps involved in direct native seed harvest, from pre-harvest considerations such as restoration goals, reference site selection, and navigating regulations and stakeholder compensation, to the actual harvesting process. This webinar helps dissect the key aspects of seed quality, processing, and storage, shedding light on the intricacies of the supply chain in the post-harvest phase.

Speaker: Daniel Slodowicz

Open Access! The launch of the video series "Native Seed: Supplying Restoration"

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/651026/The-launch-of-the-video-series-Native-Seed-Supplying-Restoration.htm%20(Open%20access,%208.2023)

Webinar description: Native seeds are a crucial component in terrestrial restoration, and their reliable supply is necessary to ensure that the restoration of degraded ecosystems can be performed at scale.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in collaboration with the Society of Ecological Restoration’s International Network for Seed-based Restoration (SER-INSR), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Holden Films, produced a series of educational documentaries that explore each step of the native seed supply chain in one of the largest and most sophisticated native seed markets in the world, the Western United States. Episodes of the nine-part series have been released weekly throughout the summer (June 29 – August 24, 2023) and can be viewed on ser-insr.org/native-seed-film.

In this webinar, representatives from BLM, SER-INSR, TNC, and Holden Films discuss the production of the video series from both a scientific and cinematographic perspective and share stories of this incredible journey.

The panel discussion is followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Presenters: Peggy Olwell, Brady Holden, McKenna Asakawa, Olga Kildisheva, Nancy Shaw and Simone Pedrini

Members Only: Launching the New Seed Information Database with the INSR

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/633006/Launching-the-New-Seed-Information-Database-with-the-International-Network-for-Seed-based-Restoratio.htm%20(Open%20access,%202.2023)

The new SID provides user-friendly access to essential information on seed weight, storage behavior, germination requirements, and other traits. The database currently hosts 182,232 records from 54,803 plant taxa. All records contained within the database are publicly available under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY 2.0.


SID, originally developed and maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RBGK), was slated to be discontinued due to an agency compliance issue. Upon hearing about the impending closure, SER’s INSR and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew worked together to ensure the preservation of this critical database, which serves as an invaluable and reliable source of information on native seeds for restoration practitioners across the globe.

Presented by

Kingsley Dixon
Simone Pedrini
John Dickie
Robert Turner
Chid Gilovitz
Fiona Hay

Farming Native Seed for the Future: Considering Evolutionary Potential and Ecological Function

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/602143/Farming-Native-Seed-for-the-Future-Considering-Evolutionary-Potential-and-Ecological-Function.htm%20%20(Open%20access,%204.2022)

Farming Native Seed for the Future: Considering Evolutionary Potential and Ecological Function

Agricultural seed production is needed to meet ambitious restoration goals, which will require more seeds than can be harvested from wild populations. However, there may be direct conflicts between traits that are favorable in conventional agriculture and those that are adaptive in restoration settings, which could have long-lasting impacts on restored communities. Here, we review some of these evolutionary and ecological conflicts and suggest research directions needed to meld the needs of agriculturalists and restoration practitioners. Partnerships between ecologists, engineers, breeders, and growers are essential to develop best practices for providing seeds for successful native species restoration.

Speaker Bios:
Alison Agneray has ten years of experience executing long-range research and monitoring programs across the Western United States. She is currently a PhD candidate working with Dr. Beth Leger at the University of Nevada Reno to optimize seed mixes used to restore degraded habitats in North America’s Great Basin Desert.

Owen Baughman is a Restoration Scientist with The Nature Conservancy of Oregon, USA, and has worked to understand, test, and/or demonstrate new and innovative approaches to native plant restoration in North America’s sagebrush steppe. He earned an MS in Plant Ecology in 2014 from the University of Nevada Reno, and a BS in Ecology and Conservation Biology in 2010 from the University of Idaho.

INSR Workshop: Native Seed in Restoration

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/600034/INSR-Workshop-Native-Seed-in-Restoration.htm%20(Open%20access,%203.2022)

The workshop will bring together experts working in seed-based restoration around the world to discuss key elements of the native seed supply chain. This event is organized in conjunction with INSR, BLM, SER, TNC, and with assistance from the Great Basin Fire Science Exchange. Individual sessions can be found here.

International Seed Standards Launch, Introductory Webinar and Panel

This webinar provides an opportunity to learn from some of the authors of the Native Seed Standards. This is your chance to find out about the Seed Standards and what they mean for you.

Speakers: Kingsley Dixon, Peggy Olwel, Gil Waibel, Simone Pedrini. Panelists: Kingsley Dixon, Simon Pedrini, Peggy Olwell, Nancy Shaw, Olga Kildisheva, Stephanie Frischie, Gil Waibel, Danilo Ignacio Urzedo.

The webinar can be seen at this link on the SER website.

Members Only:An overview and discussion of findings of the 2020 Australian Native Seed Sector Report

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/515692/Open-Access-An-overview-and-discussion-of-findings-of-the-2020-Australian-Native-Seed-Sector-Report.htm

High quality seed from a range of native species is the foundation for restoring Australia’s many fragmented and degraded native landscapes (even more so in the light of catastrophic bushfires of the summer 2019/20). Yet, for many years, there have been concerns raised within the native seed sector about the need for a transition from one that is essentially a disparate, poorly supported or capitalised cottage-industry to a forward-focussed, structurally sound and cohesive restoration-supporting industry – a evolution that is required if it is to meet the many challenges facing ecological restoration in Australia. In the past there have been many more unknowns than knowns about the native seed sector and providing solutions to its many challenges has always been hampered by a lack of baseline data. For this reason, a survey on the status of the Australian native seed sector was instigated by the Australian Network for Plant Conservation. This was conducted between October 2016 and April 2017 with parties from all states and territories contributing (including seed collectors, growers/sellers/suppliers, purchasers/distributors, researchers). The survey aimed to generate data on a range of seed-related subjects including seed collection and handling practices, seed end-use and seed business structure and models. The survey also tested common perceptions on a range of sector-related topics to gauge opinions and gather feedback from sector participants. The survey, and subsequent Australian Native Seed Survey Report (launched in March 2020), provide an important snapshot of the status of the Australian native seed sector and further knowledge on its structure and its capacity to meet current and future seed demand for ecological restoration.

This seminar will provide a brief background Australia’s seed and restoration sectors, discuss survey findings and implications and present report recommendations.

Speaker: Paul is a restoration ecologist specialized in re-establishing species-rich native grasslands and grassy woodlands. In 2004 he instigated the Victorian ‘Grassy Groundcover Research Project’ (Melbourne University and Greening Australia), a state-wide, field-scale applied grassy restoration research program which showed for the first time under Australian conditions that complex grassy communities could be restored to a high functional quality. In 2011 he expanded the project to NSW focusing on EPBC-listed Cumberland Plain Grassy Woodland. There he continued to develop and refine cultivated seed production techniques and approaches for wildflowers and grasses to provide seed for restoration across that region. He was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2016 and toured the USA investigating its native seed and restoration sectors which profoundly influenced his views on native seed markets, seed cultivation and restoration. In 2017 he co-developed the Australasian Network for Plant Conservation-led Native Seed Sector Survey which aimed to gather critical information and feedback from restorationists nationally. In 2019 he joined Kalbar Resources to oversee rehabilitation strategies for the company’s Fingerboards project in east Gippsland (Victoria) which includes ambitious goals to restore nationally listed grassy woodland at hitherto untested landscape scales (in Australia) on parts of the post-mined landscape. He has been and remains an active advocate and believer in the importance of the role that ecological restoration can play in restoring Australia’s historic and current depletion of native plant communities

Selecting native plant material for restoration projects in different ecosystems

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/news.asp?id=508864

Due to loss of natural ecosystems and biodiversity around the world along the past decades, international initiatives are being developed to establish a foundation for the restoration of diverse ecosystems, prioritizing ecosystem biodiversity and resilience while also recognizing impacts on rural livelihoods and carbon storage. As programs have become more refined, a shift from revegetation with available material to using native plant materials of known genetic origin has been underway, and achieving increasing priority at an international level. Through research and collaborative partnerships, on local, regional and international levels, and between public and private sectors, approaches are being developed that addresses the challenges in using native genetic plant material in ecological restoration. Four study cases from different geographic locations and climatic conditions were selected to demonstrate the successes in using native genetic plant material, developing a baseline for native genetic resource management, and meeting challenges according to every ecosystem’s limiting factors. In Jordan’s desert ecosystem a developed native seed strategy has majorly improved seedling quality and post-planting survival rate. In the tropical ecosystem of Guinea Conakry, the major challenge is to identify best seed collection times and seed handling techniques to improve seed germination and propagation of native seedlings through seeds for the restoration of the Bossou corridor. Within Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, an emphasis is being made on the development of a traceability system for native genetic plant material used in restoration projects, considering the genetic variability within native species, starting with Cedrus atlantica. In Lebanon, considering the diverse ecosystems, a scheme for the selection of native plant material is developed within every restoration project, for dryland, riparian or forest ecosystems.

Members Only: Prairie Reconstruction - Seed Mix Design and First Year Management

Webinar Link: https://www.ser.org/news/489848/Members-Only-Prairie-Reconstruction---Seed-Mix-Design-and-First-Year-Management.htm

There is an emerging role for large ag conservation programs (CRP) to address more complex ecological issues using native vegetation, but resources to implement these programs are increasingly constrained. How can conservation programs achieve greater impact with limited resources, and what ecological benefits are provided per unit project cost? In this talk, we explore how seed mix design and establishment management influence cost-effectiveness and the provision of ecological benefits. Using results from a field experiment in Iowa, we show how balancing grass-to-forb ratio in seed mixes can promote multifunctionality and cost-effectiveness in prairie reconstructions, and how repeated first year mowing accelerates the provision of ecological benefits.

Justin Meissen leads the Research and Restoration Program at the Tallgrass Prairie Center.  Justin’s focus is on implementing restoration research and demonstration projects, developing training seminars, and developing technical materials. He has a PhD in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota and a BS in Integrative Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Justin has worked professionally in restoration ecology and botany from North Carolina to California with The Nature Conservancy, The Audubon Society, and other non-profits and environmental contractors. His past work evaluated the risks of repeated, intensive seed harvest from native tallgrass prairies to supply large-scale prairie restoration. Justin’s current research interests concentrate on issues of increasing cost-effectiveness and outcome certainty in prairie reconstructions.

SERA 2018 - Native Seed for Restoration, Challenges and Opportunities

Seeds are an adaptation to survive unfavorable conditions and to disperse in space and in time, thus playing a key part in the assembly and regeneration of existing and future plant communities. Seed-based restoration harnesses the practicality and diversity of these attributes to revegetate, enrich, or conserve plant communities. This is especially true and important as restoration sites worldwide are increasingly altered and degraded by extreme wildfires, invasive species, fragmentation, mining and climate change. For these situations, seed-addition is essential along with management to achieve restoration goals. The native seed sector has advanced in recent decades, however, there are many challenges and opportunities associated with the use of native plant seeds in restoration. This symposium covers best-practices and current research relevant to obtaining seeds for restoration including seed needs assessment, seed sourcing, seed procurement models, seed collection, seed technology, seed innovations, and seeding and deployment.

Building a portable after-ripening bucket for relieving dormancy of small seed batches

By Orville C. Baldos, Joseph DeFrank and Scott B. Lukas

The control of both seed storage temperature and humidity is essential for optimizing dry after-ripening of seeds. Manipulating these factors to process small seed batches often require expensive equipment such as incubators and desiccators. To reduce cost, we have devised a portable after-ripening system made from readily accessible components, such as a 5-gallon (18.93 L) plastic bucket (with a screw top lid), bubble wrap insulation, silica gel-based desiccator and a seed germination heat mat (connected to a thermostat). To assess the storage conditions of the DIY (do-it-yourself) after-ripening system, dried seeds and awns of piligrass (Heteropogon contortus) were placed inside the bucket and stored for 12 months at the 30°C setting of the seed germination heat mat. Temperature and relative humidity during the storage period was monitored using a datalogger (Onset HOBO® UH100). Records obtained from the datalogger indicate that the bucket can maintain an average temperature of 30.92°C (standard deviation = 0.96°C) and an average humidity of 30.81% (standard deviation = 1.89%). A previous study on after-ripening of piligrass indicates that this storage condition falls under the ideal range of storage temperature (30°C) and storage humidities (12% to 50% eRH). Results of the first year of evaluation suggest that the DIY bucket can be used for small-scale after-ripening of piligrass seeds. The potential exists for the modification of the desiccant type and temperature settings to facilitate after-ripening in a greater range of species.

This recorded talk was originally presented as a poster at the National Native Seed Conference, February 13-16, 2017 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Here's the link to download the poster: https://docs.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/...

The method described in this webinar was effective on tropical species, but might not be suitable for species from a different environment, without adjusting tempeature and humidity parameters. 

From Bird’s Eye to Grass Roots: Implementing the National Seed Strategy

Peggy Olwell, Fred S. Edwards and Sarah Kulpa

This webinar will provide a brief introduction to the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration through real life, “hands-on” examples of implementation. The 350+-member Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) released the National Seed Strategy in 2015. It represents an unprecedented partnership effort of national, regional and local public and private collaborators.

Three speakers from three different federal agencies will discuss implementation opportunities and challenges from a national, regional and local perspective. Examples will relate to strategy goals (producing and providing needed seed, conducting research, expanding tools for land managers and communications).

Although stories will primarily focus on work being done in the Great Basin, concepts and practices will be of interest to land managers, conservationists and botanists nationwide.

Presenters Peggy Olwell, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Plant Program Lead, Washington, D.C., and Chair of the Plant Conservation Alliance Federal Committee, will provide an overview of the National Seed Strategy. Fred S. Edwards, Bureau of Land Management - Nevada State Office, will provide a regional perspective from the Great Basin Native Plant Project. Sarah Kulpa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Restoration Ecologist/Botanist with the USFWS Reno Office, will provide a “grass-roots” perspective, drawing from her work with the University of Nevada – Reno and others to support restoration of local native plant communities.

The Role of networks connecting native seed stakeholders

Marcello De Vitis*, Holly Abbandonato, Costantino Bonomi, Simone Pedrini 

Connecting stakeholders and facilitating the transfer of knowledge is crucial to improve success in ecological restoration. Like the nodes of the ecological networks we aim to restore, those who work with native seeds are connected and dependent on each other for information and resources to address the challenges of seed conservation, research, production and use. The International Network for Seed-based Restoration (INSR) and the Native Seed Science, Technology and Conservation Initial Training Network (NASSTEC) are two examples of international networks dedicated to connecting people working on native seeds and facilitating the transfer of knowledge to improve results in ecosystem conservation and restoration. We present the recent activities and outcomes of these two networks. As an on-line network of 420 members in 40 countries, INSR publishes articles about restoration experiences, webinars, and a quarterly e-newsletter; promotes relevant events; posts useful materials and opportunities in seed-based restoration; and hosts a discussion forum about native seeds. As a face-to-face network, INSR organises symposia where stakeholders can learn from each other about the techniques and approaches to restoration challenges. In Europe, where the native seed industry is starting to address seed capacity and policy, NASSTEC conducted a survey to identify the native seed stakeholders, and collect information on the degree of collaboration and networking. Obtaining information about and from the community of users that we are trying to connect and for whom we want to produce useful tools for, is a critical step to effectively direct our resources.

From the flower to the field

Global examples of best-practices for collecting seeds from the wild for use in restoration

Stephanie Frischie, Kingsley Dixon, Cándido Gálvez Ramírez, Stacy Jacobsen, Maria Tudela Isanta, Greg Livovich

Multiple options are available for obtaining seeds to use in restoration and the method of choice will vary depending on project goals and constraints. Seeds collected from natural and spontaneous plant populations are important as restoration seed mixes, foundation seed for establishing production beds, germplasm for developing cultivars, and seed bank accessions for research and ex situ conservation. For most regions and for most species, seed farming is nonexistent, impractical, or insufficient to meet the demand of seeds for restoration. We discuss the range of approaches for obtaining seeds: wild collection, contract collection, in-house production, purchase and the advantages/disadvantages of each. With experiences and practices from around the world, we give practical considerations for making wild collections: planning which species and quantities, locating populations, securing permission, evaluating populations, collecting the seeds, recommendations for tools and field safety. Particular examples come from South America (Bolivia), North America (USA: California, Indiana), and Europe (Spain, Italy). Finally, we review best-practices for seed handling and short-term storage of seeds between collection and deployment.

Applying Seed-Based Approaches to Ecological Restoration

Stephanie Frischie, Chris Helzer, and Todd Erickson present the rationale and successive steps that are required for the efficient delivery and use of seeds in ecological restoration. Case studies from prairie ecosystems in North America and the hot deserts of north-western Australia illustrate the process.

SMOKE: a short story about an ancient phenomenon

Prof. Kingsley Dixon

Smoking kills but it is the magic solution for seed germination of many native seeds.  This webinar, presented by Curtin Professor Kingsley Dixon, noted authority on smoke germination, runs through the background and history of this important discovery and the remarkable scientific journey to the discovery of the compounds in smoke that stimulate germination.  The webinar also goes through the step-by-step process for building your own smoke apparatus for treating seed and making smoke water.