Restoration
Producing native plant materials for restoration: 10 rules to collect and maintain genetic diversity
In this webinar, Andrea Kramer, Conservation Scientist with the Chicago Botanic Garden, describes each potential production step where genetic diversity can be lost and outline 10 rules to assist in the collection and production of native plant material for restoration, providing justification for, and examples of why, each rule is important.
Sagebrushes are champion chemists and famous for their abundant and complex volatile bouquets. The chemical make-up of sagebrushes plays important roles in plant fitness and survival and is an unseen but fundamental component of sagebrush habitats. In this webinar, Justin Runyon, Research Entomologist, USFS RMRS, discusses the diversity, distribution, possible functions, and potential restoration use of sagebrush chemistry, focusing on volatiles.
In this webinar, James H. Cane with the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit at the Utah State University, provides a brief review of bee life histories and identifies common native forbs of the Great Basin that are attractive to native bee communities (and those in use now that are of little value to bees), to help land managers choose pollinator-friendly native wildflowers in restoration.
This webinar focuses on insects that have contributed to seed production problems in native plant production over the past two decades on the Colorado Plateau and in the Great Basin. The webinar was presented by Bob Hammon, Entomology/Agronomy Extension Agent, Tri River Extension Area.
In this webinar, Ed Kleiner, Comstock Seed, Gardnerville, NV, discusses the parameters of native seed collection including collection techniques, permitting, certification, and market trends which are moving toward local genetic sources and provisional seed zones.
View brief.
This study used a team with widely diverse expertise that gathered information from private, state, federal, and tribal landowners about their current forest and fire management practices and then built a computer model that can be used to facilitate collaborative decision making about forest management in fire-prone environments. The model allows stakeholders to compare alternative management scenarios to see how various approaches affect wildfire behavior, risk, and the associated delivery of valued ecosystem services. The model is now being used with two forest collaborative groups in central Oregon to help stakeholders understand the potential tradeoffs associated with management options.
View article.
In an experiment replicated at three burned sites in the northern Great Basin, this study compared Wyoming big sagebrush establishment across treatments differing by seed delivery technique, timing, and rate of seed application. Wherever density differed between treatments, it was consistently higher in certain treatment levels (minimum-till > conventional drill, drill-delivery > broadcast-delivery, fall broadcast > winter broadcast, and higher rates > lower rates). Densities declined between years at two sites, but we did not find evidence that declines were due to density-dependent mortality. Results indicate that seeding success can likely be enhanced by using a minimum-till imprinter seeding method and using seeding rates higher than typical postfire seeding recommendations for Wyoming big sagebrush.
View article.
Results suggest that herbicide protection pods (HPPs) can be used to allow desired species to be seeded simultaneously with imazapic application. This will allow seeded species a longer window to become established before experiencing pressure from exotic annuals and enable a single-entry approach compared with multiple entries currently employed to revegetate annual grass − invaded rangelands. Though further field testing is needed, in particular with multiple species and higher herbicide applications rates, these results suggest that HPPs could improve our ability to restore and revegetate exotic annual grass − invaded rangelands.
View article.
In this study, spectrophotometry was used to quantify chemical differences in the water-soluble compound, coumarin. Ultraviolet (UV) absorbance of A. tridentata subsp. vaseyana showed distinct differences among A.t. tridentata and wyomingensis. Use of spectrophotometry to acquire UV absorbance provides empirical results that can be used in seed testing laboratories using the seed chaff present with the seed to certify A. tridentata subspecies composition.
View paper.
Study results from this project suggest that treatments over a 70-year period on public lands in the southwestern United States are shifting toward restoration practices that are increasingly large, expensive, and related to fire and invasive species control.