In its ongoing effort to improve the health and productivity of the public lands, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Kemmerer Field Office (KFO) has initiated a native seed collection effort that is part of the interagency “Seeds of Success” (SOS) program.

The effort is part of the National Native Plant Materials Development Program through the Plant Conservation Alliance. SOS provides seeds from many species of plants to growers, researchers, and administrators of seed in the United States. SOS collects species of restoration priority, not rare, threatened or endangered species.

In the BLM KFO, seeds are being collected in a variety of locations where large populations of flowering forbs, grasses and shrubs are located. They will also collect tree cones from healthy whitebark pine and limber pine, not affected by whitebark pine blister rust or mountain pine beetles. Last year, the BLM collected 40,000 whitebark pine seeds from Commissary Ridge, the southernmost whitebark pine population in Wyoming.

BLM KFO botanists will be collecting seed throughout the summer with botany interns from the Chicago Botanical Garden and Wyoming Conservation Corp crews. No mechanical devices will be used - all seed is collected by hand.

The collection effort complements measures the BLM is already taking to fight noxious and invasive weeds, as well as sustain healthy riparian, range, and wildlife habitat on public lands. SOS has over 8,163 native seed collections in its national collection. This material is being used for direct seeding in local restoration projects as well as research such as germination trials, common garden studies and protocol establishment. Portions of each collection are also held in long-term storage facilities for conservation.

SOS collections are important as many parts of the country are being affected by climate change, wildfire, drought, and invasive species. Native plants are a key component of national and global biodiversity conservation efforts and are necessary to mitigate economic damage and reverse the effects of habitat loss. Native plant communities provide habitat for wildlife, including pollinators. Without native plants, there is a risk of losing biodiversity in the wild and the sustainability of agriculture.

SOS gathers between 400 and 600 wildland seed collections annually for both long-term conservation and immediate restoration needs. SOS material is freely available to researchers working on native plant materials development.



For the complete article see the 07-29-2010 issue.

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