Conservation, Adaptation, and Seed Zones for Key Great ...

R.C. Johnson1, Mike Cashman1, Barbara Hellier1,

Matt Horning2, Brad St Clair3, Francis Kilkenny3,

Erin Espeland4, Elizabeth Leger5, and Ken Vance-

Borland6 1ARS, Plant Genetic Resources, Pullman, WA 2USFS, Bend, OR 3USFS, Corvallis, OR 4USDA, ARS, Northern Plains Agricultural Research,

Sidney, MT 5University of Nevada, Reno, NV

6Conservation Planning Institute, Corvallis, OR

Agricultural

Research Service

Conservation, Adaptation, and

Seed Zones for Key Great

Basin Species

Outline

•Partnerships for native restoration (ARS, USFS, BLM) and

Seeds of Success (SOS)

-Acquisition, documentation, distribution of plant genetic resources

•Ecological genetics or genecology: “Home on the range”

-Seed collection, common gardens, mapping seed zones

-Species updates: Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda)

-Compilation of species phenology and production with temperature

and drought stress

•Implementation

Using seed zones

Pressures on the landscape reducing genetic diversity of native germplasm and the stability of ecosystems

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). Now SOS and the National Plant Germplasm System are partnering to collect and conserve key native plant materials. So far more than 8500 new native accessions are now in the NPGS.

Seeds of Success (SOS) :Collect, conserve, distribute, and develop native plant materials for restoration

SOS Collections

Pullman

Germplasm documentation (GRIN database)

Security back-up NCGRP, Fort Collins

NPGS Curators

Distribution

Research collections •Evaluation data •Seed zone development

Distribution

Seeds of Success and the National Plant

Germplasm System

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

SOS distributions by year

Packets

Taxa

Orders

0

400

800

1200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

Cumulative SOS distrutions

Packets

Taxa

Orders

Seeds of Success distributions

In 2013 more than 1500 new native plant accessions were

added to the SOS-NPGS collection, which now totals more

than 8,600 accessions. Since 2006, nearly 3300 seed

distributions have been made for research projects including

federal, state, and private cooperators.

Providing adapted genetic resources for restoration. Two approaches:

The “Crop” based approach

(“don’t fence me in”):

selections are made from plant

collections representing

genetically diverse

populations. Many populations

are discarded to focus on

fewer elite populations.

An “Ecological" based

approach

(“home on the range”): wild

populations are collected

within a seed zone are planted

back to the areas within the

zones where restoration is

needed.

1945 1946

* But “Drifting along like a

tumbling tumbleweed” is not

an option

Germplasm collection

Multivariate traits for data

reduction

Link plant traits to source

location climate

Common garden evaluations for genetic traits

Regression modeling of plant traits with source

location climate

GIS mapping of plant traits with climate for

seed zones

Mt. Brome, NE Oregon Tapertip onion, Great Basin Indian ricegrass, SW U.S.

Genecology for ecological restoration

Genecology research is ongoing for

many key North American species

cooperative among BLM, Forest

Service, and ARS

-Mt. Brome (published)

-Tapertip onion (published)

-Indian ricegrass (published)

-Bluebunch wheatgrass(published)

-Sandberg bluegrass (nearly complete)

-Thurbers’ needlegrass (data collected)

-Basin wildrye (data collected)

-Prairie junegrass (nearly complete)

-Bottlebrush squirreltail (data collected)

-Sulfur-flowered buckwheat (germplasm

collected)

Sandberg bluegrass •Common gardens with 130 locations

•Two families within locations

•RCB with 6 replications

•Two main garden sites (Central

Ferry, WA; Powell Butte, OR)

•Maternal effects and plasticity

studies study ongoing

Phenology Heading, day of year

Blooming, day of year Maturity, day of year

Heading to bloom, days Heading to maturity, days Bloom to maturity, days

Production Survival, %

Panicles plant Dry weight, g

Crown area, cm2 Morphology

Leaf length to width ratio Leaf length x width, cm2

Plant habit, 1(prostrate) to 9 (upright)

Culm length, cm Panicle length, cm

Sandberg Bluegrass Common Gardens

•All traits were highly significant (P<0.01) for source locations both years. Genetic variation across the landscape

•The garden site x location interaction was also highly significant. Plasticity present

•Variance components of source locations and families (within locations) revealed that 77% was attributed to locations. Facultative apomictic species

•Correlations between traits and all garden site-year combinations were always positive and highly significant in 85 of 90 possible cases, averaging r=0.57. Interactions were of magnitude not direction; data were averaged over years and sites for multivariate statistics and modeling traits with climate. Correspondence among common garden environments for traits

MAT mean annual temperature (°C),

MWMT mean warmest month temperature (°C),

MCMT mean coldest month temperature (°C),

TD temperature difference between MWMT and MCMT, continentality

MAP mean annual precipitation (mm),

MSP mean summer (May to Sept.) precipitation (mm),

AH:M annual heat:moisture index (MAT+10)/(MAP/1000))

SH:M summer heat:moisture index ((MWMT)/(MSP/1000))

DD<0 (DD_0) degree-days below 0°C, chilling degree-days

DD>5 (DD5) degree-days above 5°C, growing degree-days

DD<18 (DD_18) degree-days below 18°C, heating degree-days

DD>18 (DD18) degree-days above 18°C, cooling degree-days

NFFD the number of frost-free days

FFP frost-free period

bFFP the Julian date on which FFP begins

eFFP the Julian date on which FFP ends

PAS precipitation as snow (mm)

EMT extreme minimum temperature over 30 years. .

EXT extreme maximum temperature over 30 years.

Eref Hargreaves reference evaporation

CMD Hargreaves climatic moisture deficit

Climate variables between 1991 to 2010 derived

for each source location

Mapping of Regression Models for Sandberg Bluegrass Traits

in the Intermountain West

Earlier heading and smaller leaf area were associated with warmer

dryer areas of the Columbia basin, Snake River Plain, and parts of

the Central Basin and Range.

R2=0.46 R2=0.36

The first three canonical traits were

highly significant P<0.01) and

explained 64% of the variation (31, 16,

and 14%, respectively, presented to

scale).

R2=0.71

R2=0.51 R2=0.48

Canonical correlation of garden traits

with source climate used to develop

composite plant traits for developing

seed zones.

Shows links between garden traits and

climate suggesting natural selection and

adaptation of Sandberg bluegrass to

diverse climates.

CanCorr 1 especially distinguished

the warmer, dryer regions in the

Columbia Basin, Snake River Plain,

and Central Basin and Range from

cooler, wetter regions, especially the

“Cascade salient”.

Species Collection region n Heading/bolt Dry wt.

day of yr. g

Indian ricegrass (desert) Southwest 99 170 37.4

Sandberg bluegrass (desert) Great basin 130 117 41.3 Tapertip onion (desert) Great basin 55 108 5.2 Mt. brome (mesic) Blue Mountains 147 128 198

•Data for different species were evaluated in different common

garden environments revealing genetic variation related to source

climates.

•Only qualitative comparisons should be considered between

species; may not be true for other desert or mesic species.

•Mt. Brome had much higher production than Indian ricegrass,

Sandberg bluegrass, and Tapertip onion.

Mean phenology, production, and leaf morphology of three desert and one mesic species

Species n Collection region MAT MAP MSP AHM

°C mm mm °C/mm

Indian ricegrass (desert) 99 Southwest 11.7 308 121 77.1

Sandberg bluegrass (desert) 130 Great basin 8.7 553 136 43.8

Tapertip onion (desert) 55 Great Basin 7.7 374 109 50.8

Mt. brome (mesic) 147 Blue mountains 6.5 830 213 22.2 MAT= mean annual temp,°C MAP= mean ann. precip, mm MSP= mean summer precip, mm AHM= annual heat:moisture index, (MAT+10°C]/[MSP mm/1000)

Climate traits averaged over source locations for three desert and one mesic species from the Intermountain West

•Higher annual heat moisture index (AHM) indicates higher temperature and drought stress environments. •AHM ranged from 22 for Mt. brome to 77 for Indian ricegrass with Sandberg bluegrass and Tapertip onion intermediate.

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Dry

wt.

(g)

Annual heat moisture index

Production

Mt. brome r= 0.31**

Indian ricegrass r= -0.25**

Sandberg bluegrass r= -0.25** Tapertip onion r= -0.35**

For desert species, plants from higher stress climates (higher AHM) had earlier spring

development and lower dry wt. (negative slope).

•Higher temperatures and evaporative demand of later spring-summer are avoided;

water use efficiency is promoted.

•Smaller plants should result in less potential water use in high stress environments.

The mesic Mt. Brome had more production and somewhat later heading in warmer, dryer

source climates (positive slope).

•The higher stress source locations of the desert species was not encountered;

growth potential was enhanced for sources from somewhat warmer temperature

environments.

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

He

adin

g\b

olt

ing

(day

of

year

)

Annual heat moisture index

Phenology

Indian ricegrass r= -0.38**

Mt. brome r= 0.17*

Sandberg bluegrass r= -0.43

Tapertip onion r= -0.41**

Sure, we can’t get the

toothpaste back in the

tube…

…but

please, do

not squeeze

from the top

Using seed zones: •Collect or assemble germplasm

within each seed zone.

•Contract with seed growers to

propagate seed zone derived plant

materials.

•Document and release germplasm for

use in designated zones.

•Inventory and store seeds to supply

plant materials for restoration.

•Practice ongoing restoration in

degraded areas before and after fire or

other disturbances.

•Research provisional seed zones,

multiple species zones.

Biggest problems may be: •Limited resources

•Tradition, policy, and political barriers

Summary

•Seeds of Success native plant germplasm conserved through the

National Plant Germplasm System is being distributed and utilized in

public and private sectors

•Genecology for seed zone development is being completed on numerous

key native restoration species cooperative among BLM, ARS, and the

USFS.

•For Sandberg bluegrass, climate at source locations and plant traits were

linked using canonical correlation, resulting in relatively strong regression

models.

•Genecology (“Home on the range”) leads to comprehensive collection,

evaluation, and conservation of native plant germplasm, and promotes

adaptation and diversity of plant materials used for restoration.