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Farming for Restoration: Building Bridges for Native Seeds
Abstract
In both Europe and the United States, a shortage of native plant material frequently precludes successful restoration. Native plant materials are needed to restore ecosystem functioning and services, provide for in situ conservation of biodiversity (e.g., Hobbs and Cramer 2008), maintain genetic diversity (Bischoff et al. 2010), and afford resistance to invasive species. Long-term stewardship goals are to create diverse, resilient systems with the genetic diversity and structure to facilitate adaptation to climate change and other environmental perturbations (e.g., Johnson et al. 2010). Commercial seed mixtures of non-native species and genetically uniform varieties threaten local diversity. Consequently, efforts to develop native seed sources are receiving considerable attention.
... High cost and scarcity of suitable seeds frequently confront land managers, motivating efforts to augment availability and affordability of native plant materials at an appropriately fine spatial scale (Peppin et al. 2010;Tishew et al. 2011;Camhi et al. 2019;Elzenga et al. 2019). Efforts to augment native plant production, or increase availability of native plant materials through public funding, have been under way in various countries, including Australia (Broadhurst et al. 2015), Brazil (Schmidt et al. 2019), Germany (Mainz & Weiden 2019), and the United States (BLM 2009). ...
... The results of efforts elsewhere will be informative. The Seeds of Success program is increasing seed warehousing efforts (BLM 2009, Tishew et al. 2011. Federal agencies are implementing new agreements, such as indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, stewardship contracts, and buy-back options (Peppin et al. 2010). ...
... Producers operate based on reliability of production and sales and reduction of risk. Prairie restoration will benefit from the experience of programs such as Seeds of Success, just as other systems have looked to prairie restoration in the Midwestern United States (White et al. 2018) and the United States as a whole (Tishew et al. 2011). Ultimately, citizens, subnational, and national governments, through funding and policy decisions, will have profound impacts on the future of seed production and sourcing systems. ...
Views about sourcing plant material for restoration, habitat reconstruction, and revegetation have developed substantially in recent years. In particular, recognition of the prevalence of local adaptation has been incorporated into guidelines that now often recommend local sourcing of germplasm. Demand for these materials frequently outstrips supply, and land management professionals repeatedly report inadequate availability of plant materials at appropriate geographic scale and affordable price. Here, we use focus group interviews to investigate the obstacles impeding production and use of source-identified native seeds in Minnesota, USA prairie. Focus groups included both producers and users of locally sourced seeds and allowed for open-ended conversations among professionals within each group. Participants emphasized that unpredictability in demand severely restricts supply. To increase use of locally sourced seeds in restorations, participants identified key priorities: working towards more consistent standards and policies, including revising those of agencies that manage lands; promoting awareness of large ramifications from small changes to relevant laws; increasing communication and education; and increasing the number of seed producers.
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... Wild populations can be protected by harvesting a sustainable amount of seed and then increasing seed number on a production farm to meet demand (Broadhurst, Hopley et al., 2015;Kiehl et al., 2014;Oldfield, 2019;Shaw et al., 2005;Tischew et al., 2011;White et al., 2018). Although this process reduces demographic pressure on wild populations, it may have unintended consequences that ultimately reduce plant fitness at the restoration site (Espeland et al., 2017). ...
... Finally, once established, farmed populations may be repeatedly harvested (perennials) or replanted (annuals) for one or many sequential generations which could produce genetic bottlenecks and promote inbreeding (Espeland et al., 2017;Tischew et al., 2011). To illustrate these points, imagine a wild population with a range of seed maturation times (Figure 1a) If that population is sampled once at the peak of seed maturation, genotypes that flowered earlier and had already dispersed seed, or those that flowered later and are still maturing their seed, may be excluded (Figure 1b). ...
... To ensure the genetic integrity of farmed populations through the production process, some seed certification agencies regulate the number and size of sampled wild populations and/or limit the number of generations that farmed populations can be repeatedly harvested before being refreshed with new collections from the wild (Mainz & Weiden, 2019;Nagel et al., 2019;Tischew et al., 2011). However, this level of seed quality control is extremely regional, and enforcement is often minimal . ...
Native seed for restoration is in high demand, but widespread habitat degradation will likely prevent enough seed from being sustainably harvested from wild populations to meet this need. While propagation of native species has emerged in recent decades to address this resource gap, few studies have tested whether the processes of sampling from wild populations, followed by generations of farm cultivation, reduce plant fitness tolerance to stress over time. To test this, we grew the eighth generation of farm‐propagated Clarkia pulchella Pursh (Onagraceae) alongside seeds from two of the three original wild source populations that established the native seed farm. To detect differences in stress tolerance, half of plants were subjected to a low‐water treatment in the greenhouse. At the outset, farmed seeds were 4.1% heavier and had 4% greater germination compared to wild‐collected seed. At maturity, farmed plants were 22% taller and had 20% larger stigmatic surfaces, even after accounting for differences in initial seed size. Importantly, the mortality of farmed plants was extremely high (75%), especially in the low‐water treatment (80%). Moreover, farmed plants under the high‐water treatment had 90% lower relative fitness than wild plants due to the 1.3 times greater weekly mortality and a 3‐fold reduction in flowering likelihood. Together, these data suggest that bottlenecks during initial sampling and/or unconscious selection during propagation severely reduced genetic diversity and promoted inbreeding. This may undermine restoration success, especially under stressful conditions. These results indicate that more data must be collected on the effects of cultivation to determine whether it is a suitable source of restoration seed.
... Most of the native restoration species are currently not available in the existing commercial seed supply systems [66] and are therefore traded informally with little or no control on seed quality. Seed certification systems for most native restoration species are non-existent or poorly developed and no seed quality assurance mechanisms are available [58,67]. Certification schemes developed in some jurisdictions have been found to be unreliable as they largely address the requirements of the agricultural sector and not native seed industry [68]. ...
The world is witnessing massive land degradation caused by climate change and various anthropogenic activities. There has been a significant increase in habitat restoration efforts, with demand for seeds to restore these degraded ecosystems in some cases outstripping supply. Traditionally, seeds for restoration activities have mainly been sourced through collections from the wild, but with the growing seed demand, this is increasingly becoming unsustainable. In order to ensure responsible restoration practice, restoration practitioners need to explore other options of economical, ethical and sustainable sourcing of seeds. Ex situ seed banks can leverage their technical and infrastructural capacity to play a greater and more direct role in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem conservation and restoration, particularly through the supply of quality ecologically and genetically suitable seed. In this paper, we review whether ex situ seed banks possess the capacity and competence for supporting habitat restoration and the challenges they are likely to face in these efforts. The review focuses on seed collecting, field-based seed bulking, seed handling and storage, seed quality control as well as experience and capacity in facilitating germplasm exchange. The availability of high-quality germplasm collections of documented provenance and with broad genetic diversity is arguably the greatest resource and asset that seed banks have in supporting habitat restoration.
... The exclusive use of seeds of regional provenance maintains the integrity of the local gene pool and ensures the development of vegetation stands with typical regional characteristics [36,[57][58][59]. In this way, genetically diverse plant populations can be established at the natural level of genetic differentiation [57]. ...
Photovoltaics is one of the key technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving climate neutrality for Europe by 2050, which has led to the promotion of solar parks. These parks can span up to several hundred hectares, and grassland vegetation is usually created between and under the panels. Establishing species-rich grasslands using native seed mixtures can enhance a variety of ecosystem services, including pollination. We present an overall concept for designing native seed mixtures to promote pollinators, especially wild bees, in solar parks. It takes into account the specific site conditions, the small-scale modified conditions caused by the solar panels, and the requirement to avoid panel shading. We highlight the challenges and constraints resulting from the availability of species on the seed market. Furthermore, we provide an easy-to-use index for determining the value of native seed mixtures for wild bee enhancement and apply it as an example to several mixtures specifically designed for solar parks. The increased availability of regional seed would allow a more thorough consideration of pollinator-relevant traits when composing native seed mixtures, thereby enhancing ecosystem services associated with pollinators such as wild bees.
... It also mandated quality requirements that are not applicable to natives, such as limitations in the number of seeds of Rumex species which are allowed. We note that some species of that genus are weeds in arable agriculture but in grasslands, they are important components of the plant community (Tischew et al., 2011). Following the release of the EU directive in 2010, each member state (even the ones without a native seed market) had to formally adopt the directive by transposing it into a national law. ...
A global push to restore degraded terrestrial ecosystems requires an enormous and ever-increasing quantity of native seeds. Unfortunately, in most cases, such precious resources are not available in the quantity, quality and diversity required to support such restoration efforts. Limitations to seed supply have been identified in many countries, and numerous public and private initiatives of varied scope and magnitude have embarked on the journey of addressing the issues currently crippling the native seed supply chain. This chapter presents Case Studies of five prominent native seed supply systems that have developed independently in different parts of the World (Brazil, Western United States, Midwest United States, Europe and Australia) in the hope of providing useful guidance and inspiration for the improvement of existing and emerging native seed markets.
... It also mandated quality requirements that are not applicable to natives, such as limitations in the number of seeds of Rumex species which are allowed. We note that some species of that genus are weeds in arable agriculture but in grasslands, they are important components of the plant community (Tischew et al., 2011). Following the release of the EU directive in 2010, each member state (even the ones without a native seed market) had to formally adopt the directive by transposing it into a national law. ...
For successful restoration of wetland and riparian systems, we need to recognise several key points: Wetland systems exist because of, and are governed by hydrology, so hydrological restoration is imperative. Wetlands always have been and need to be temporally and spatially variable, changes in flow and water availability are natural; so restoration of those characters are necessary for successful wetland restoration. Wetlands are closely linked to their surrounding environment as a water and nutrient source; where possible they should be restored in relation to whole landscape restoration. Wetland systems can be resilient and are capable of recovery to a functioning state; the recovery goal, appropriate methods, available resources and subsequent management and monitoring are vital to success.
... Las semillas son la materia prima de los programas de restauración ecológica, ya que son el insumo básico para el reforzamiento o la reintroducción de especies nativas a zonas degradadas y fragmentadas cuando la barrera es la presencia de propágulos. La propagación continua de plantas de sucesiones tempranas y tardías garantiza el suministro de material vegetal necesario para proyectos a largo plazo (Broadhurst et al., 2008;Tischew, Youtie, Kirmer y Shaw, 2011). En el caso de ecosistemas de páramo, las tasas de crecimiento de las plantas son muy bajas (pueden tardar de uno a tres años en alcanzar un tamaño adecuado para ser trasplantadas al campo), por lo que resultan muy importantes los viveros de especies nativas con programas continuos de propagación para poder asegurar el éxito en la implementación de la restauración. ...
... Las semillas son la materia prima de los programas de restauración ecológica, ya que son el insumo básico para el reforzamiento o la reintroducción de especies nativas a zonas degradadas y fragmentadas cuando la barrera es la presencia de propágulos. La propagación continua de plantas de sucesiones tempranas y tardías garantiza el suministro de material vegetal necesario para proyectos a largo plazo (Broadhurst et al., 2008;Tischew, Youtie, Kirmer y Shaw, 2011). En el caso de ecosistemas de páramo, las tasas de crecimiento de las plantas son muy bajas (pueden tardar de uno a tres años en alcanzar un tamaño adecuado para ser trasplantadas al campo), por lo que resultan muy importantes los viveros de especies nativas con programas continuos de propagación para poder asegurar el éxito en la implementación de la restauración. ...
... Las semillas son la materia prima de los programas de restauración ecológica, ya que son el insumo básico para el reforzamiento o la reintroducción de especies nativas a zonas degradadas y fragmentadas cuando la barrera es la presencia de propágulos. La propagación continua de plantas de sucesiones tempranas y tardías garantiza el suministro de material vegetal necesario para proyectos a largo plazo (Broadhurst et al., 2008;Tischew, Youtie, Kirmer y Shaw, 2011). En el caso de ecosistemas de páramo, las tasas de crecimiento de las plantas son muy bajas (pueden tardar de uno a tres años en alcanzar un tamaño adecuado para ser trasplantadas al campo), por lo que resultan muy importantes los viveros de especies nativas con programas continuos de propagación para poder asegurar el éxito en la implementación de la restauración. ...
El libro está dividido en siete capítulos que incluyen principales aspectos ecológicos y sociales como: sus determinantes ecológicos, su dinámica vegetal natural, el régimen de disturbios natural y antrópico; los socioecosistemas y su gobernanza, y aspectos prácticos como la determinación de los escenarios de restauración; las estrategias necesarias para superar las barreras y el tipo de alcances, y resultados que pueden tener las acciones implementadas.
El primer capítulo es una introducción al ecosistema páramo, que trata sobre las diferentes definiciones, los determinantes ecológicos y los componentes bióticos y abióticos que se interrelacionan para dar lugar a la funcionalidad del ecosistema. Se discute sobre la influencia humana, por medio de sus actividades productivas, cada vez más demandantes, que generan riesgo y hacen más vulnerable su funcionalidad, en especial del suelo y la regulación hídrica. Se desarrolla brevemente el tema del cambio climático y cómo este factor refuerza las alteraciones de origen antrópico.
En el segundo capítulo, se exponen las diferentes formas de vida y crecimiento presentes en los páramos, se hace una revisión de las primeras propuestas y tipologías, así como la descripción y clasificación de los biotipos dominantes a lo largo de los gradientes altitudinales. Al final se presenta un caso de estudio, en el que el conocimiento de las formas de vida y otros atributos de las especies vegetales permiten la adecuada selección de plantas según el tipo de disturbio, las barreras a la restauración y las estrategias que se puedan desarrollar tales como: la reubicación, propagación y enriquecimiento del componente vegetal.
El tercer capítulo desarrolla el tema de la dinámica de la vegetación en el páramo, teniendo en cuenta que el factor que moldea las comunidades vegetales y sus cambios son las dinámicas naturales y antrópicas de los disturbios. Además, se hace principal énfasis en las dinámicas ocasionadas por disturbios antrópicos, y las consecuencias que estos tienen sobre los componentes del ecosistema y sus implicaciones para su restauración ecológica
El capítulo cuarto presenta una síntesis de los diferentes conjuntos de estrategias de restauración identificadas, haciendo énfasis en las técnicas y la aplicabilidad para la recuperación de algunos componentes en el ecosistema. Posteriormente desarrolla los diferentes escenarios de restauración que pueden encontrarse en los páramos, a partir de la identificación del ecosistema, comunidad o población de referencia, el disturbio que ha generado la degradación, el proceso de degradación y las barreras a la restauración derivadas de cada disturbio; a manera de síntesis, para cada escenario se presenta un cuadro que relaciona los diferentes conjuntos de estrategias con cada una de las barreras que pueden ser identificadas. El capítulo quinto desarrolla en síntesis el concepto de socioecosistema haciendo énfasis en sus componentes, con ejemplos prácticos y la forma como se puede insertar la restauración ecológica dentro de los socioecosistemas de páramo, a través de las diferentes formas de gobernanza.
El sexto capítulo trata de la investigación alrededor de la ecología y la fisiología de la germinación de semillas como un aporte fundamental para la aplicación y consolidación de los procesos de restauración ecológica y conservación de plantas nativas. El capítulo inicia con una revisión de los aspectos más relevantes para la selección de las especies y de las fuentes semilleras; realiza una síntesis con las recomendaciones más importantes para adelantar la recolecta de semillas para la investigación y para los procesos de restauración; finaliza la descripción y análisis de los factores más relevantes tanto para la generación de conocimiento, como para la germinación de semillas de especies nativas de páramo.
El capítulo séptimo plantea un modelo conceptual de la restauración ecológica en páramos que han sido transformados por actividades productivas como la ganadería y agricultura. Este modelo permite ordenar los resultados de la investigación y las estrategias de restauración que pueden ser llevadas a cabo en este tipo de ecosistemas, al comprender mejor los estados no deseados, dirigidos por los disturbios y las barreras asociadas; y los estados deseados, dirigidos por las estrategias de restauración y de manejo para estas áreas. De esta forma, el modelo conceptual ordena, prioriza y plantea una ruta de las estrategias que pueden llevar a que un páramo se recupere y de esta manera apoyar la toma de decisiones de manejo sobre estas áreas.
Este libro puede ser una herramienta de gran utilidad paras las personas e instituciones que planean, desarrollan e implementan procesos de restauración ecológica en los páramos y que están interesados en su manejo, conservación y restauración.
Grasslands are ubiquitous globally, and their conservation and restoration are critical to combat both the biodiversity and climate crises. There is increasing interest in implementing effective multifunctional grassland restoration to restore biodiversity concomitant with above- and belowground carbon sequestration, delivery of carbon credits and/or integration with land dedicated to solar panels. Other common multifunctional restoration considerations include improved forage value, erosion control, water management, pollinator services, and wildlife habitat provisioning. In addition, many grasslands are global biodiversity hotspots. Nonetheless, relative to their impact, and as compared to forests, the importance of preservation, conservation, and restoration of grasslands has been widely overlooked due to their subtle physiognomy and underappreciated contributions to human and planetary well-being. Ultimately, the global success of carbon sequestration will depend on more complete and effective grassland ecosystem restoration. In this review, supported by examples from across the Western world, we call for more strenuous and unified development of best practices for grassland restoration in three areas of concern: initial site conditions and site preparation; implementation of restoration measures and management; and social context and sustainability. For each area, we identify the primary challenges to grassland restoration and highlight case studies with proven results to derive successful and generalizable solutions.
This article summarizes the results of a comprehensive evaluation of frequently implemented compensation measures used to counteract environmental impacts in the course of road construction. Examination of planning documents and compensation areas revealed that 26 of 57 compensation areas had to be excluded from further evaluations either because of insufficient goal setting with regard to habitat functions and/or poor descriptions of the measures, unrecognizable implementation, or because the measures were simply not carried out. In the remaining 31 compensation areas, we examined 119 compensation sites and analyzed their success in relation to 326 defined compensation goals. Only 33% of the goals set were fully or mostly achieved, whereas 67% were reached only partly, mostly not, or not at all. Deficiency inquiries and analyses revealed that (1) in addition to unsuitable site conditions, improper implementation methods as well as deficient follow-up management proved to be of significant influence for goal achievement and (2) a considerable portion of the pitfalls could be avoided by faster integration of state-of-the-art ecological restoration practices. Therefore, we recommend a standardized control procedure, which includes planning, implementation, as well as monitoring of goal achievement and follow-up management for maintenance of target conditions to improve compensation success. This should help to avoid planning and implementation errors, detect flawed development, and correct it in time.