Developing Seed Zones for Native Forbs
and Grasses
RC Johnson, Barbara Hellier, and Mike
Cashman, Nancy Shaw,Vicky Erickson, Brad St
Clair, Ken Vance-Borland, and Andy Bower
USDA-ARS Plant Genetic Resources and U.S.
Forest Service
Agricultural
Research Service
Cooperators
• USFS: Matt Horning
• USDA-ARS: Tom Jones, Erin Espeland
• BLM: Peggy Olwell, Mary Byrne (Seeds of
Success)
• UN-Reno: Beth Ledger
• Eastern Oregon Stewardship: Berta
Youtie
Seeds of Success
Seeds of Success (SOS) was
established in 2001 by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) in
partnership with the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew Millennium Seed Bank
(MSB)
It is now an ongoing program
with many partners that collect,
conserve, and develop native plant
materials for rehabilitating and
restoring lands in the United States.
SOS and the NPGS are
partnering to collect and conserve
key native plant materials.
Approximately 2,000 new native
accessions have been acquired for
the NPGS so far.
National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)
Ex situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources
Cold storage (4 C) of native germplasm cooperative with the BLM,
Seeds of Success Program (SOS) and the National Plant
Germplasm System repository at Pullman WA. Security back-up
is provided as long term storage at -18°C the Fort Collins, CO.
Conservation of native plant species needed
Native genetic
resources
on the edge:
-Invasive weeds
-Frequent fires
-Overgrazing
-Revegetation
-Climate change
Gaylen Hansen
Seed transfer zones are needed to ensure that plant
materials for revegetation are environmentally adapted
and ecologically suited.
Genecology for Seed Zones
Plant genetic traits=Environmental variables
•Genetic variation in plant traits is linked with environmental
variables such as temperature and precipitation at seed source
locations.
•Plant traits are used with environmental variables to derive
statistical models useful for landscape mapping and seed zone
development.
Seed zone research is
ongoing for:
-Indian ricegrass
-Mt. Brome
-Prairie junegrass
-Sandberg bluegrass
-Thurbers’ needlegrass
-Basin wildrye
-Bottlebrush squirreltail
-Tapertip onion
Climatic data is available at seed source locations
Annual variables:
Mean annual temp (°C) and precip (mm),
Frost-free period, first frost in fall, last frost in spring
Precip as snow (mm)
Extreme min temp over 30 years
Seasonal variables:
Winter mean, max, and min temp and precip
Spring mean, max, and min temp and precip
Summer mean, max, and min temp and precip
Autumn mean, max, and min temp and precip
Monthly variables
January - December mean, max, min temps
January - December precipitation
Germplasm collection
Common gardens evaluation
Analysis of genetic diversity
Link plant traits with environment
Map seed adaptation zones
Genebank conservation
Pseudoroegneria spicata, Bluebunch wheatgrass
Collection
essentials:
Plants, lunch,
people
Sandberg bluegrass on old Whitebird grade
Collecting Basin wildrye at Murphy Hot Springs, Idaho
Walt Kaiser collecting Allium acuminatum near the Snake
River
Mountain Brome
Collections of
Mt. Brome collections in
the Blue mountains, ca.
120 locations studied in
common gardens
Allium acuminatum collection 2005—55 locations
Twenty Level 4 Ecoregions
Collectionn
sites
Semiarid Hills and Low Mountains
1
Southern Forested Mtns/Dry Partly Wooded
Mtns
1
Mountain Home Uplands
1
Southern Forested Mountains
1
Pluvial Lake Basins
1
High Desert Wetlands
1
Continental Zone Foothills
1
Unwooded Alkaline Foothills
1
Semiarid Foothills
1
High Glacial Drift-Filled Valleys
1
Central Nevada Mid-Slope Woodland and
Brushland
1
Central Nevada High Valleys
1
Carbonate Woodland Zone
2
Carbonate Sagebrush Valleys
2
Mid-Elevation Ruby Mountains
3
Semiarid Uplands
4
High Lava Plains
5
Upper Humboldt Plains
6
Owyhee Uplands and Canyons
8
Dissected High Lava Plateau
13
Study 1. Distribution of Indian ricegrass
seed source locations in the NPGS
collection, Pullman, WA. (Mostly
collected by Tom Jones.)
Common gardens
Mountain Brome: fifteen
plant traits measured for two
years at two common
gardens (plant development,
morphology, biomass)
Jeanne R. Janish. 1977.
© The New York Botanical Garden
Transplanting Bluebunch
Wheatgrass, Lucky Peak, fall 2006
Evaluation, spring 2007
Twenty traits measured
•Plant development
•Morphology
•Biomass
Umbel,
Flower
Leaf
Scape
Tapertip onion
common gardens,
Pullman and
Central Ferry, WA
Indian ricegrass gardens, Central Ferry WA
Indian Ricegrass measurements
Development
Heading date
Blooming date
Maturity date
Morphology
Leaf width
Leaf length
Culm length
Inflorescence length
Leaf texture
Leaf abundance
Leaf roll
Plant habit
Flat, unrolled
leaf rated at 1
Cylindrical, rolled
leaf rated at 9
Growth and production
Inflorescences per plant
Seeds per inflorescence
Crown diameter
Dry weight
Regrowth weight
Dry weight less regrowth
Hand sickles were
used to remove above
ground foliage for dry
weight determination
Cut to 1-2 cm height.
regrowth was harvested
one month later
Indian ricegrass-Selected correlations between plant traits and
environmental factors
Trait
Latitude
Longitude
Elevation
Ann Temp Ann Precip.
Lftex07
-0.115
0.103
0.307
-0.255
0.016
Lftex08
-0.364
0.225
0.240
0.020
-0.071
CulmLn07
0.192
0.210
-0.04
-0.149
0.315
CulmLn08
0.299
-0.010
-0.094
-0.155
0.214
InflorLn07
0.202
0.009
-0.137
-0.054
0.093
InflorLn08
0.232
0.084
-0.016
-0.171
0.231
Seeds/hd07
0.405
-0.094
-0.246
-0.100
0.193
Seeds/hd08
0.409
-0.027
-0.086
-0.270
0.301
LfRoll0708
-0.199
0.255
0.245
-0.105
-0.069
LfLn/Wd07
-0.089
0.282
0.062
-0.029
-0.009
LfLn/Wd08
-0.056
0.241
0.003
0.047
0.081
LfLnXLfWd07
0.207
0.012
-0.341
0.166
0.050
LfLnXLfWd08
0.301
-0.117
-0.320
0.063
0.069
CrownArea0708
0.178
0.044
-0.184
0.043
0.109
DryWt07
0.023
0.043
-0.267
0.248
-0.045
Mt. Brome: General Adaptation
In the Blue Mountains
High,2200 m
Low,750 m
Lower temps,
Higher precipitation,
Shorter frost free
period
Higher temps,
Lower precipitation,
Longer frost free
period
Plants with:
-lower dry weight
-narrower crowns
-fewer leaves,
-shorter leaves
Plants with:
-higher dry weight
-wider crowns
-more leaves,
-longer leaves
Common Garden Summary
For all studies to date genetic variation for plant
traits was found across the landscape.
Links between environmental variables at
source locations and plant traits suggested
adaptive variation.
Plant traits are being used with seed source
environmental variables to map areas of
adaptation and seed zones
Areas of adaptation for
mountain Brome in the Blue
mountains
Overlay of principal components 1 and 2
Proposed seed
zones for
Mountain
brome in the
Blue mountains
Preliminary seed zones for Allium acuminatum for the
Great Basin in parts of Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada
Oregon
Idaho
Nevada
What can be done when we need seed zones but
don’t yet have the research for a given species?
Preliminary Seed Zones
•We know that plant adaptation is often a function
of temperature and precipitation.
•Ecoregions seek to delimit areas of similarity
based on ecology and have been widley used.
•Plant hardiness zones using minimum
temperatures are well established
Andy Bower’s map
overlaying minimum
temperature and precipitation
with Ecoregion boundaries
for the Great Basin
We could define 5-6 areas as
preliminary seed zones
Seed zones so derived are
only an informed guess, but
might be a fair first
approximation
Work on validation is
underway
Summary
•Genecology studies involve collection of plant material
from diverse locations, evaluation of plant traits in
common gardens, linking plant traits with seed source
environments, and mapping seed transfer zones.
•Forest Service and ARS scientists are developing seed
zones for numerous key rangeland species.
•Preliminary seed zones will be useful as a starting point,
but will require modification as research is completed.
“Those are my
principals, and if
you don’t like
them…
Well, I have
others.” Groucho Marx
R.C. Johnson
Plant Germplasm and Testing Unit
USDA-ARS
Washington State University
Pullman WA 99164
rcjohnosn@wsu.edu