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. 2018 Mar-Apr;11(2):e12381.
doi: 10.1111/conl.12381. Epub 2017 Jun 19.

Native Seed Supply and the Restoration Species Pool

Emma Ladouceur  1   2 , Borja Jiménez-Alfaro  3   4 , Maria Marin  2   5 , Marcello De Vitis  5 , Holly Abbandonato  1   2 , Pietro P M Iannetta  6 , Costantino Bonomi  1 , Hugh W Pritchard  7
Affiliations

Native Seed Supply and the Restoration Species Pool

Emma Ladouceur et al. Conserv Lett. 2018 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Globally, annual expenditure on ecological restoration of degraded areas for habitat improvement and biodiversity conservation is approximately $18bn. Seed farming of native plant species is crucial to meet restoration goals, but may be stymied by the disconnection of academic research in seed science and the lack of effective policies that regulate native seed production/supply. To illustrate this problem, we identified 1,122 plant species important for European grasslands of conservation concern and found that only 32% have both fundamental seed germination data available and can be purchased as seed. The "restoration species pool," or set of species available in practice, acts as a significant biodiversity selection filter for species use in restoration projects. For improvement, we propose: (1) substantial expansion of research and development on native seed quality, viability, and production; (2) open-source knowledge transfer between sectors; and (3) creation of supportive policy intended to stimulate demand for biodiverse seed.

Keywords: Biodiversity; European grasslands; ecological restoration; revegetation; seed germination; seed production.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Proportion (%) of species that are commercially available (CA) and with germination data availability (GDA) (B) proportion (%) of species that are commercially available (CA) with germination data availability (GDA), and with the combination of CA + GDA. N: number of species represented within each group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bars show the proportion (%) of species per taxonomic family that have seed which has commercial availability. The degree and proportion of germination data availability is represented by the color scale according to the Seed Information Database (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2008) and Baskin & Baskin (2014). The numbers in brackets next to each family name represents how many species are included in the data set from that given family.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Predicted effect plots showing the commercial availability of species grouped per species category. Probability was estimated using GLM (binomial error, logit link) fitted to the commercial production data of each species (commercial availability ∼ germination data availability + species group). The same model was used to fit each group, and results were grouped based on: (A) species groups (protected, indicator, fodder) (B) species group + germination data availability. Bars represent the probability that a given group of species is commercially available. Brackets represent the upper and lower limits of that estimate. N = number of species represented by each prediction.
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References

    1. Baskin, C.C. & Baskin, J.M. (2014). Seeds: ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. 2nd edn Elsevier, San Diego, London, Waltham.
    1. Bischoff, A. , Steinger, T. & Muller, S.Ä.H. (2008). The importance of plant provenance and genotypic diversity of seed material used for ecological restoration. Restor. Ecol., 18, 338‐348.
    1. Broadhurst, L.M. , Lowe, A. , Coates, D.J. , et al (2008). Seed supply for broadscale restoration: maximizing evolutionary potential. Evol. Appl., 1, 587‐597. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Broadhurst, L.M. , Jones, T.A. , Smith, F.S. , North, T. & Guja, L. (2016). Maximizing seed resources for restoration in an uncertain future. BioScience, 66, 73‐79.
    1. Chivers, I.H. , Jones, T.A. , Broadhurst, L.M. , Mott, I.W. & Larson, S.R. (2016). The merits of artificial selection for the development of restoration‐ready plant materials of native perennial grasses. Restor. Ecol., 24, 174‐183.

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