Climate Change
Implications for Plant Restoration &
Conservation on National Forests
August 2, 2009
Vicky Erickson
USFS PNW Region
Goods & Services:
• Water
• Carbon sequestration
National Forest System
193 million acres
155 national forests
20 national grasslands
422 T&E species (31% of U.S. total)
156 plants
92 fish
57 clams
32 mammals
30 birds, etc.
Current Major Stressors
• Drought
• Altered fire regimes
• Invasive plants
• Insects & disease
But what to do here, now?
• What climate are we managing for? 2030,
2060, 2090?
• Which GCM & emission models to use?
• What species & ecosystems to protect?
• What species to emphasize in
reforestation/restoration activities?
• What species combinations?
• What seed sources?
Constraints
• “206” Effect
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Inadequate resources (funding, people)
Administrative burdens
Travel restrictions
Lack of support
• Regulatory/policy/process issues
• Land allocations
• Public opposition
Climate Change
Investment Strategy
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Science Integration
Monitoring
Adaptation Priorities
Mitigation
Sustainable Operations
Education
Alliances
Adaptation Priorities:
Resiliency & Protection
1) Expand efforts to develop native seed
supplies & production capabilities
2) Develop solutions for seed deployment
– Seed zones
– Assisted migration
3) Expand gene conservation efforts
1a) Seed Supplies: Conifer spp.
• Existing supplies are aging &
losing viability
• Wildfires & other disturbances
are depleting supplies
• Many spp. & sources are absent
or poorly represented
• Inadequate
funding
Seed Orchards
• 3773 acres, 50 species
• high value seed sources
• irreplaceable genetic
repositories
Needs:
• maintenance & protection
• consolidated maps &
databases
• additional facilities?
USDA Forest Service
National Forest System
Genetic Resource Programs
Disease Resistance Breeding
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Blister rust in 5-needle pines
Port-Orford-cedar root rot
Eastern white pine rust
Fusiform rust in loblolly pine
resistance trials
American chestnut blight
Butternut, dogwood fungal diseases
Collecting rust resistant whitebark pine seed
Phytophthora resistance screening
in Port-orford-cedar
1b) Expand Seed Supplies:
“Little” Native Plants
National Native Plant Materials Policy
(FSM 2070, 2008)
“Native plant materials are the first choice
in revegetation…”
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/nativeplantmaterials/policy.shtml
Building a PNW
Native Plant Restoration Program
Priority 1: Seed need projections
Priority 2: Increase native seed supplies
Priority 3: Funding & partnerships
Priority 4: Education, technology transfer
Priority 5: R&D
Seed Collection Swat Teams
“Seed Marines”
Private
Seed
Producers
Private
Seed
Producers
• Identify and
collect
targetValley (western OR)
• Willamette
species:
• Columbia Basin (eastern OR/WA)
$145,000
National Forest Nursery System
Dumroese et al (2005)
USFS Bend Seed Extractory
Extracts, cleans, and stores native seed
for USFS (4 regions), as well as BLM
(10 states), BIA, NRCS, NPS, Federal
Highways
Over 900 native plant species processed
Provides training, consultations & seed
quality checks
Maintains seed inventory & database
Provides granary and freezer storage
NFGEL
Linking
Science to
Management
• Assess levels of genetic variation &
population structure
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
year
03
02
20
00
20
20
98
19
96
94
19
92
19
19
90
88
gymnosperms
(conifers)
angiosperms
19
19
cumulative total
Number of Plant Species Studied at NFGEL
• Measure gene flow (seed and pollen
migration); hybridization and
introgression
• Determine mating systems, paternity,
and parentage
• Determine genetic similarity,
relatedness
• Determine taxonomy
• Identify source population/cultivar
Adaptation Investment Strategy
1) Expand efforts to develop native seed
supplies & production capabilities
2) Develop solutions for seed deployment
–Seed zones
–Assisted migration
3) Expand gene conservation efforts
Adapted Germplasm for Restoration
Collaborative Seed Zone Studies
Brad St. Clair1, Randy Johnson1, Matt Horning1, Rich Cronn1,
Nancy Shaw1, Vicky Erickson1, RC Johnson2, Dale Darris3, Peggy
Olwell4
1
2
3
4
Forest Service (PNW, RMRS, R6)
ARS Plant Genetic Resources
NRCS-Corvallis PMC
Bureau of Land Management
Native Plant Common Gardens
Species
Source Principals
Status
Blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus Buckley)
OR, CA
PNW, PSW
Erickson et al. 2004
Roemer’s fescue (Festuca idahoensis)
OR, WA
NRCS, PNWRS
Wilson et al. 2008
Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor)
OR, WA
NRCS, PNWRS
Horning et al. 2008
Broadleaf lupine (Lupinus latifolius)
OR, WA
PNW
Doede 1995
California brome (Bromus carinatus)
OR, CA
PNW, PSW
Internal report
PNW, PSW
Data collection
complete
Mountain brome (Bromus marginatus)
Bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria
spicata)
OR, WA,
ID, NV, CA
PNWRS, ARS,
RMRS
Data collection
complete
Antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)
OR, WA
PNWRS
Data collection
complete
Sanderg’s bluegrass (Poa secunda)
OR, WA,
ID, NV, CA
PNWRS, ARS,
RMRS
Planted spring 2008
Prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha)
OR, WA,
ID, NV, CA
PNWRS, PNW,
NRCS
Planted fall 2008
Bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus
elymoides)
OR, WA
PNWRS
Seed collected
What to do in
the meanwhile?
• Increase accessibility
and usability of climate
data
• Delineate areas of similar
climate for use as
surrogate seed zones
What to plant for future climates?
Seed Transfer Decision Support Tool
Glenn Howe
Ron Beloin
Brad St.Clair
Lauren Magalska
Adaptation Investment Strategy
1) Expand efforts to develop native seed
supplies & production capabilities
2) Develop solutions for seed deployment
–Seed zones
–Assisted migration
3) Expand gene conservation efforts
Framework for Gene Conservation
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Partners & stakeholders
Threats & impacts
Current genetic knowledge
Conservation needs & priorities
– In situ
– Ex situ
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Restoration needs
R&D needs
Policy actions
Communication plan
Resources needs
Monitoring & assessment
Priorities for Gene Conservation
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in decline due to insects & pathogens
“nowhere to go”
endemics, isolated populations
T&E
genetic specialists
restricted habitat requirements
high economic or social value
Tree Species of Concern
Western regions:
Eastern regions:
• butternut
• oak spp. (>50)
• ash
• eastern hemlock
• 5-needle pines: white pine, sugar pine,
whitebark, bristlecone, limber, pinyon,
foxtail
• Port-orford cedar
• Western red cedar
• Subalpine fir
• Mountain & western hemlock
• Englemann spruce
• Tanoak
• Monterey pine, knobcone pine
• Cupressus spp.
• Torrey pine
• Brewer spruce
• Coast redwood
• Alder spp., cottonwood, aspen, birch
In situ Protection May be Inadequate
• Many populations are in decline
and at high risk of loss
Hemlock wooly adelgid
 Beetle epidemic
 Expanding blister rust
 Root & stem diseases
 Wildfire, drought, cc related stress
• Spp. may not be suited to future
climates
Butternut canker
Sudden oak death
Blister rust
Pitch canker
Re-thinking In situ Conservation
Active Risk Management :
• Reduce disturbance probability
• Reduce disturbance intensity
• Mitigate loss
 fuels reduction, thinning
 stimulate natural regeneration
 individual tree protection
 resistance breeding
 population augmentation or
translocation
 greater emphasis on ex situ
Ecosystems in Peril: Whitebark Pine
• Keystone spp in alpine ecosystems
• Vital food source for grizzlies, Clark’s Nutcracker
• Threatened by WPBR, mountain pine beetle, fire suppression
and climate change
• Petitioned for federal listing in 2008
PNW Whitebark Pine Conservation Strategy
Carol Aubry, Don Goheen, Robin Shoal
Priority Actions:
• Continue inventory, monitoring,
& assessment work
• Collect seed, fast!!!
• Expand efforts to develop rust
resistant planting stock
• Increase active restoration:
(planting, thinning, pruning)
• widespread cone crop
in 2009
• cone caging is ongoing
• operational & ex situ
collections in priority
areas, fall 2009
Questions or Comments?
verickson@fs.fed.us
Seed Zone Benefits
• Improved adaptability
• Increased efficiency
- reduced # of management units
- Zones cross administrative
boundaries
- Creates opportunities to
pool funds
- Facilitates sharing and exchange
of seed
• Reduced costs
- larger seed needs per zone
- agronomic efficiencies
• Improved seed supplies
“Workhorse Species”
• Broad ecological amplitude
• Establish/grow/compete well on
disturbed sites
• Easily collected and propagated
• Diverse array (functional group
diversity)
“Workhorse” Species:
Grasses:
• Blue wildrye
• Bluebunch wheatgrass
• Mountain brome
• Sandberg’s bluegrass
• Great basin wildrye
• Idaho fescue
• Squirreltail
• Prairie junegrass
• Stipa spp.
• Slender hairgrass
Forbs:
• Yarrow
• Pearly everlasting
• Buckwheat
• Blue flax
• Lupinus spp.
• Penstemon spp.
• Aster spp.
3 - year priorities
• Western White Pine
– Continue existing program
– Increase outplanting opportunities
– Reexamine seed zones under climate
changes scenarios
– Increase survival and natural regeneration in
existing stands
• Pruning to increase survival
3 - year priorities
Limber, Whitebark, GB Bristlecone, RM
Bristlecone, Foxtail, Southwestern White Pines
– Initiate/continue rangewide seed collections
– Resistance screening / ID resistance mechanisms
– Define geographic patterns of adaptive traits, and define
seed zones under climate changes scenarios
– Increase survival and natural regeneration in existing
stands
• Understanding colonization dynamics
• Stimulate natural regeneration
• Individual tree protection