Purchasing plant materials can be expensive but has many benefits, including knowledge of source populations, ease and support of local small businesses. Because species can vary widely in their tolerance to biotic and abiotic factors, depending on where they are sourced from [1], when possible, purchase varieties that are from sites with similar climatic and edaphic conditions to the revegetation site [2].
Most native seed and plant purveyors will provide recommendations for material purchase based on climate zones. Learn about climate zones in reference to plants and to find your climate zone.
When purchasing seed, pay attention to purity values, which drive pounds per acre needed for seeding. Seed quality is determined by its ‘Pure Live Seed’ or PLS value, which is a function of purity, germination and dormancy. PLS varies across and even within species. For example, forbs are expected to have lower PLS values because they often have a complex dormancy mechanism. Keep in mind that critical information associated with germination and dormancy break is unknown for many native plants [3]. However, similar plants (e.g. phylogenetically close) often have similar requirements [4], which can be a helpful guide.
Resources
- Climate of Utah | Rangeland Resources of Utah
- National Nursery and Seed Directory
- Native Seed Network | Institute for Applied Ecology
- Utah Seed Suppliers | Forestry | Extension | USU
- Native Plant and Seed Sources | Utah Native Plant Society
References
[1] Johnson RC, Cashman MJ, Vance-Borland K. Genecology and seed zones for indian ricegrass collected in the southwestern United States. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 2012 [accessed 2022 Dec 22];65(5):523–532. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1151085040/abstract/E478C078D6ED4346PQ/1
[2] Fitzsimmons K, Lovely C, Glenn E. Growth differences among widely separated geographic accessions of fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) in the great basin desert, New Mexico, USA. Arid Land Research and Management. 2009 [accessed 2022 Dec 22];12(2):87–94. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15324989809381501
[3] Ladouceur E, Jiménez-Alfaro B, Marin M, De Vitis M, Abbandonato H, Iannetta PPM, Bonomi C, Pritchard HW. Native seed supply and the restoration species pool. Conservation Letters. 2018 [accessed 2022 Dec 22];11(2):e12381. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/conl.12381. doi:10.1111/conl.12381
[4] Seglias AE, Williams E, Bilge A, Kramer AT. Phylogeny and source climate impact seed dormancy and germination of restoration-relevant forb species. PLOS ONE. 2018 [accessed 2022 Dec 22];13(2):e0191931. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0191931. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0191931