An Assessment of the Need for Native Seeds and the Capacity for Their Supply Interim Report (2020) / Chapter Skim
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2 Supply Chain: Its Components and Flow
2 Supply Chain: Its Components and Flow
Pages 20-39
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Some of the largest users of native plant materials are those with responsibility for managing public lands and their ecosystems, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
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to develop a long-term program to manage and supply native plant materials for land restoration and rehabilitation (USHR, 2001)
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which provide information on seed collection and the transfer of native plants under future environmental scenarios. The USFWS administers the National Wildlife Refuge System, a network of waters and lands where the focus is on resource management and conservation, including the restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats.
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. State government departments that use native plant materials include natural resources, wildlife agencies, and park authorities.
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program is the largest coordinated effort in the country to collect diverse native species and populations in order to strengthen the availability of germplasm for seed banking, research, plant materials development, and ecological restoration. Established in 2001, SOS is the national native seed collection and banking program led by BLM.
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These cultivars and germplasm releases constitute a large portion of commercially produced native seed. A considerable number of additional native plant germplasms have been released or at least identified for restoration projects through programs sponsored individually or cooperatively by state, federal, NGO, or private entities throughout the United States.
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From page 26... ...
Although NRCS, ARS, and other germplasm developers do make recommendations for areas of uses for each release based on test plots and similar floral regions, they do not generally use formal empirical or provisional seed zones in their plant material development. There are many participants in the seed supply chain, including collectors, growers, other developers, and users, who prefer the traditional method (collection, evaluation and selection of accessions based on desirable trait expression, and release)
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From page 27... ...
Some companies grow a combination of wild-sourced seed in plots of less than 0.1 acre, while others may grow native plant materials in larger fields of 10 acres or more that may contain many different native plant species. Some seed companies go beyond seed cultivation in their own fields and undertake land preparation and planting for restoration projects under contract with public land management and private landowners.
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The seed label is based on a seed analysis report, which is the written documentation of the tests performed on a sample in a seed testing laboratory and by a trained seed analyst. There are both government and commercial seed testing laboratories that follow seed testing rules published by the Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA)
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The contract terms for a native seed purchase typically dictate the species, quantities, and delivery timing, and they often include specifications for the degree of genetic diversity required, seed origin location, seed certification, and seed wild collection procedures. Seed Warehouses The storage of seed prior to its use is a critical piece of the seed supply.
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Seeds of Success began banking seeds of common native plant restoration species in the early 2000s. Both programs use the NCGRP for long-term conservation storage for the relatively small quantity maintained for each seed collection (e.g., around 10,000 seeds per population)
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Although federal directives encourage that native plant materials be employed in any seeding, their use varies depending on the policies and guidance of different agencies. For firedamaged lands that are not expected to recover naturally, USDI agencies can submit requests for 22 See http://www.marsb.org.
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, provides a framework for improving collaboration among agencies and their many public and private collaborators in order to increase the availability of native plant materials and the technology required for their use in repairing damaged plant communities. The Strategy's 2018 progress report detailed accomplishments within each of its four goals (PCA, 2018)
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From page 33... ...
It began with a 1988 program to assist Iowa counties in using native plants in roadside vegetation management, which led to a plant materials program to develop Iowa source-identified stock seed for commercial production. In 1990 the creation of the Native Roadside Vegetation Center at the University of Northern Iowa, known today as the Tallgrass Prairie Center, began the development of a capacity to grow, clean, and store native seed, conduct research, and develop best practices -- not only for roadsides, but for conservation plantings on farms and the restoration of natural areas, such as the Irvine Prairie.
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ecoregions to guide seed transfer for areas without empirical or research-based seed zones. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Guidance The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS)
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Researchers also manipulate environmental conditions to investigate responses to potential future climate conditions. These studies use existing native plant materials and wildland collections to represent 35 The Farm Bill is shorthand for the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L.
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Ultimately, USGS investigations will improve restoration outcomes by facilitating the evidencebased development and use of native plant restoration materials. 39 USDA Forest Service Research The USDA Forest Service research arm has been a leader in genetic research and the development of seed transfer guidelines for conifer species since the early 1900s.
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is a national seed industry organization. ASTA's Committee on Environmental and Conservation Seed consists of about 25 companies "who provide quality seed for land restoration, rehabilitation, and reclamation." The committee is focused on promoting "native seeds with introduced and released plant materials in projects on private and public lands" (ASTA, n.d.)
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2014. Generalized provisional seed zones for native plants.
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2003. AOSCA native plant connection [brochure]
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