Seeds for Change: preserving oak prairie species for an unknown future
Start Date
3-2-2020 10:10 AM
Abstract
In 2016, Metro set a goal to document and preserve locally adapted, oak-associated herbaceous species and for three years we worked toward this goal by locating populations, documenting them, and collecting material for a herbarium and seed bank. What began as a master list of 708 species known to occur in a handful of sites became a target list of 72 species of conservation concern. We defined our seed and voucher collection protocols through a balance of science and practicality and set out to locate as many populations of our target species as possible. In all, we collected 178 vouchers which are housed at the PSU herbarium and 133 seed accessions stored in the Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank. Seed may be stored for future restoration or reintroduction. In the process, we also gained unexpected insights into the health of our herbaceous plant populations which is already proving invaluable to future management decisions.
Subjects
Climate Change, Conservation biology, Plant ecology
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33847
Seeds for Change: preserving oak prairie species for an unknown future
In 2016, Metro set a goal to document and preserve locally adapted, oak-associated herbaceous species and for three years we worked toward this goal by locating populations, documenting them, and collecting material for a herbarium and seed bank. What began as a master list of 708 species known to occur in a handful of sites became a target list of 72 species of conservation concern. We defined our seed and voucher collection protocols through a balance of science and practicality and set out to locate as many populations of our target species as possible. In all, we collected 178 vouchers which are housed at the PSU herbarium and 133 seed accessions stored in the Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank. Seed may be stored for future restoration or reintroduction. In the process, we also gained unexpected insights into the health of our herbaceous plant populations which is already proving invaluable to future management decisions.
