Session: Plant Materials Programs in Practice: Regional Scale
Thursday 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Ballroom 2
Nancy Sawtelle, Moderator
1:30 p.m.
A Collaborative Science-based Program to Provide Native Plant Materials and Restoration Technology for the Great Basin
Nancy L. Shaw
Presentation (PDF)
The Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project (GBNPSIP) evolved from a longstanding (> 25 years) cooperative venture between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the FS Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) and other partners. The GBNPSIP was initiated by the BLM Great Basin Restoration Initiative and Native Plant Program and the RMRS in 2001. Specific objectives are to increase availability of native plant materials, particularly forbs, delineate seed zones, develop seed technology and cultural practices for agricultural seed production, formulate guidelines for effective multispecies seedings, and provide demonstration areas and science delivery. Because of the varied disciplines required to accomplish project goals and the large number of the species involved, problem areas must be prioritized and cooperators sought. Species were selected by surveying land managers and resource specialists across the Great Basin. Research cooperators are recruited from botany (seed biology, plant geography), forestry (seed zone delineation) plant materials development, agronomy (seed production practices), entomology (pollination biology, seed predators) and other specialties, and wildland seeding methodology (restoration ecologists, weed scientists, equipment engineers and rangeland ecologists). Commercial seed increase requires collaboration with state seed regulatory agencies and private sector seed growers. Results are improving land manager’s ability to restore functional native communities.
Nancy completed a BS in Zoology, MS in Botany and PhD in Crop Science (Oregon State University) specializing in seed biology and technology. She has been with the Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station for 32 years. Her current position is Research Botanist with the Grassland, Shrubland and Desert Ecosytem Research Program specializing in restoration ecology and native plant materials development. She is also Team Leader of the Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project.
2:00 p.m.
Developing Native Plant Germplasm for National Forests and Grasslands in the Pacific Northwest
Vicky J. Erickson
Presentation (PDF)
The Pacific Northwest Region (PNW) of the U.S. Forest Service encompasses over 25 million acres within the states of Washington and Oregon. The region supports some of the most diverse ecosystems and flora in the nation, with habitats ranging from the rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington to the Palouse grasslands and shrub-steppe biomes east of the Cascade Mountains. Disturbances from wildfires and flooding are common in the region, and emergency revegetation treatments are frequently required for soil and floodplain stabilization, erosion control, and the protection of natural and cultural resources. Planned revegetation activities are wide-ranging, including fish habitat improvement, wildlife forage enhancement, invasive plant prevention and management, road decommissioning, trail maintenance, timber harvest mitigation, rangeland improvement, and mine reclamation. The PNW Region has implemented a new program to develop native grass and forb plant materials that are economical, effective, and consistent with Forest Service policy to protect biological diversity and plant genetic resources. Plant materials are acquired through the collection of seed from unselected populations and genotypes, followed by establishment of seed increase fields in agricultural environments. The primary focus is on “workhorse species” that are abundant across a wide range of ecological settings, and establish quickly and produce high ground cover on disturbed sites. Wildland seed is processed at the state-of-the-art USFS Bend Pine Seed Extractory (Bend, OR). Seed and planting stock from a growing array of species are produced at Forest Service nurseries and, increasingly, with private sector nurseries and growers in the Willamette Valley and interior Columbia Basin. Common garden studies for understanding plant adaptations have been initiated for priority species in collaboration with researchers from the USFS Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Research Stations (Corvallis, OR and Boise, ID), the Agricultural Research Service (Pullman, WA), and NRCS Plant Materials Centers (Corvallis, OR and Pullman, WA). The knowledge and seed zones developed from these studies provide guidance and structure to both users and producers of plant materials, and result in improved efficiencies, reduced costs, and increased availability of locally adapted seed sources. Although there remain many challenges and constraints, the PNW region is having considerable success in developing and utilizing native plant materials for restoration. The program benefits rural economies and contributes to the development of secondary, non-federal markets for native plant material services and products. Continued close cooperation and coordination with our partners, including private nurseries and the seed production industry, will be crucial to our continued success.
Vicky Erickson is the Regional Geneticist and Native Plant Program Manager for the Pacific Northwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service. She has oversight over forest genetic resource programs and conifer seed production, as well as a new program to develop seed procurement and production systems for native shrub, grass and forb species. Vicky has an undergraduate degree in Forest Sciences from the University of Washington and a Master of Sciences degree in forest genetics from Oregon State University.
2:30 p.m.
A Strategy for Developing Native Plant Materials for Restoration Efforts on the Colorado Plateau
Wayne Padgett
Presentation (PDF)
The Colorado Plateau, which has been defined and described in numerous ways, is a diverse ecoregion by any definition. It ranges in elevations from approximately 2,000 feet at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, to elevations above 12,000 feet at Mt. Humphries north of Flagstaff, Arizona and Mt Peale in the LaSal Mountains east of Moab, Utah. This elevation range, coupled with monsoonal summer rains and cold winters with deep snowpacks at upper elevations, has created conditions that support a wide variety of plant communities. The Colorado Plateau Native Plant Initiative (CPNPI) has developed a five-year strategy and action plan for the development of native plant materials for restoration of ecosystems within the Colorado Plateau. The goals of this program include: 1) Identifying existing and future needs for native plant materials for restoration purposes; 2) Develop an adequate supply of diverse, economical, and regionally-adapted native plant materials; 3) Identify existing and new methodologies and work with partners to develop and test these methods to ensure successful establishment and persistence of native plants; and 4) Communicate with agencies, partners, and the public regarding the roles, responsibilities, values, and products of this effort. There are several challenges faced by this effort, including an increased awareness of the differences between revegetation and restoration. Federal and State agencies continue to revegetate disturbed landscapes rather than restore those areas to fully functional ecosystems. Progress is being made, however, in each of these goals through cooperation among agencies, as well as through research, development, and education efforts throughout the Colorado Plateau.
Wayne received his bachelors degree in Biology from the University of California, Davis in 1975. After obtaining his masters degree in rangeland ecology from Oregon State University in 1981, he worked as an ecologist for private industry on the MX Missile Project in Nevada and Utah, and for The Nature Conservancy on the Sycan Marsh Preserve in southern Oregon. From 1983 through 1991 he worked for the Intermountain Region of the Forest Service developing community type classifications for riparian ecosystems in Nevada, Utah, southern Idaho, and western Wyoming. He spent the next 15 years as ecologist on the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in northern Utah with responsibilities for both the ecology and rare plants programs. Then, from 2005 through 2008, Wayne worked as vegetation ecologist for the Washington Office of the Forest Service where he was responsible for developing national vegetation assessment, inventory, and monitoring protocols. Wayne has been with the Bureau of Land Management in Salt Lake City since January 2009 as Coordinator for the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Initiative.
3:30 p.m.
Natural Selections Seed
Greg Houseal
Presentation (PDF)
Natural Selections Seed, formerly the Iowa Ecotype Project, was initiated in 1990 to increase Iowa source seed for Iowa’s state and county roadsides. The program adopted AOSCA Source Identified seed standards in 1996, as certified by Iowa Crop Improvement Association. Currently, over 200,000 lbs of Natural Selections SI seed of 46 species from 107 regional sources are produced annually by commercial growers. An overview of the program, emphasizing partnerships, management of expectations, and limitations and challenges of blending ecological and economic realities of source ID seed will be presented.
Greg Houseal is project manager for Natural Selections Seed at the Tallgrass Prairie Center, University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. He has a BA in Botany from the University of Iowa, and a MS in Range Science from Montana State University-Bozeman. A native of Iowa, he has lived and worked as a naturalist in the piedmont of Delaware, a ranch-hand in the mixed-grass prairie of South Dakota, a graduate research assistant in the Intermountain bunchgrass of Montana, and as a research technician in the longleaf pine savanna of Georgia. Since 1996 he has been involved in developing and promoting regional Iowa source identified native seed as a commercial resource for prairie restoration.
4:00 p.m.
Evolution of a Plant Materials Program: Seed and Plant Production for Conservation and Restoration in the Northeast
William Brumback
Presentation (PDF)
The New England Wild Flower Society has been propagating and growing native plants since its formation in 1900. Initially, conservation efforts were directed mainly towards showy native species in horticulture, usually at its botanic garden, Garden in the Woods. In 1984, the Society was one of the founding institutions of the Center for Plant Conservation, a network of 36 botanic institutions with a national program of off-site (ex situ) conservation of rare plant material. Seed collected as part of the CPC national collection was instrumental in the recovery of the federally-listed as endangered Robbin’s Cinquefoil (Potentilla robbinsiana). The Society has expanded its seed collection program to both common and regionally rare species through the New England, for both restoration and horticultural purposes. The addition of a nursery in Whately, MA has allowed the Society to pursue production of native genotypes for restoration.
Bill Brumback worked in perennial nurseries in Holland and the US before entering the Longwood Program of Ornamental Horticulture at the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. His thesis, “Endangered Plant Species Programs for North American Botanical Gardens,” led to a position as Propagator for the New England Wild Flower Society at its botanical garden, the Garden in the Woods, in Framingham, Massachusetts. His work has included introducing native species to the Garden and the horticultural trade, producing plants for sale, developing propagation techniques for native plants, and conservation of endangered species, including reintroduction of four plant on the US Endangered Species list. One of these plants, Robbin’s Cinquefoil (Potentilla robbinsiana) located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, was the first plant species removed from U.S. Endangered Species List as a result of recovery of both wild and introduced populations. Since 1990, he has held the position of Conservation Director at the New England Wild Flower Society. As part of its conservation mission, the Society has instituted programs to bank seed of both rare and common species and is producing plants for restoration and horticulture at its nursery, Nasami Farms in Whately, MA.
4:30 p.m.
Native Seed Production in the Southeastern U.S.
Janet Grabowski
Presentation (PDF)
The majority of seed planted in the southeastern U.S. is that of introduced pasture grasses such as bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum), bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix syn. Festuca arundinacea), and the main forbs are various non-native clovers (Trifolium spp.). However, most of these species provide poor habitat for many wildlife species and can become weedy and problematic. USDA Farm Bill Programs such as the Cropland Reserve Program and Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program have placed greater emphasis on the use of native species, as have many state and local restoration efforts. However, the development and production of adapted sources of native seed in the Southeast trails behind that of many other regions of the country and this has severely hampered these restoration efforts. Cultivars of grasses and forbs native to the Southeast that were developed in other parts of the country (e.g., ‘Alamo’ switchgrass, Panicum virgatum) can be used with varying success in parts of the Southeast but are poorly suited for use as far south as Florida. Current restoration efforts in Florida rely on seed of variable and often poor quality collected from native stands. Another factor when considering the use of native species is that local seed sources rather than widely adapted cultivars are desired by many restoration professionals. The USDA, NRCS Plant Materials Centers (PMC) in the Southeast have been working for several decades to evaluate, select, and release sources of local native grasses and forbs for use in the region and to develop techniques to facilitate commercial seed production systems that ensure high quality seed can be produced. However, the extended growing season and ample rainfall in the Southeast leads to issues, especially rampant weed growth, that severely impact plant development research at the PMC and seed production once selections are released for commercial production. Most of these southern species and ecotypes are so specific in their environmental tolerances that they cannot be produced in other parts of the country, where weeds and other stresses are not as prevalent. Therefore, the cost of restoration projects is likely to remain high and the success of many of these plantings will remain quite variable until the local seed production industry develops to the point where PMC selections and other sources of local species that are desired for restoration use can be produced in larger quantities and at reasonable prices.
Janet Grabowski has been the Manager at the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Brooksville Plant Materials Center (PMC) in Brooksville, Florida since May of 2005. She began her career with the agency in 1991, where she worked as a Biologist and Research Agronomist at the Jamie L. Whitten PMC in Coffeeville, Mississippi. During her tenure with NRCS, she has gained extensive experience in native seed production and plant restoration methods. She has BS and MS degrees in Horticulture from the University of Illinois.
