For successful grassland restoration, commercial soil inoculants are often recommended to increase establishment success. In spring 2009, a 0.94-ha tract was targeted for restoration at Phil Hardberger Park, a 126-ha park in the heart of San Antonio, Texas. Woody species, mainly Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana Scheele), and Ashe juniper (Juniperus asheii Buchholz), were removed and the area was divided into 10 subplots measuring 911 m² on average. In September 2009, over 40,000 plugs of seven native grass species were planted. In addition, native prairie seed mixes, including various grass and forb seeds, were sown into the site at a rate of 11.26 kg/ha. Half of the native grass plants were treated with a soil bacteria inoculant plus additional nutrients (IN) (BioGensis IIITM DS Tainio Technology and Technique Inc.), and half were left as controls (C). Soil samples from the plots were taken in February 2010 and 2011 and analyzed for soil nutrients, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. Vegetation data were collected October 2010 and May and October 2011 to assess differences in percent cover between the treatments. The IN treatment resulted in significantly higher percent cover in the second growing season of three native grasses, Eriochloa sericea (Scheele) Munro ex Vasey, Bouteloua gracilis (Willd. ex Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths, and B. curtipendula (Michx.) Torr; however, no significant differences were found between the IN and C plots for measures of overall native species abundance, soil resources, or the presence of soil microbes. We concluded that commercial soil inoculants may not have been necessary for the successful establishment of a native grassland community.

Habitat in national parks is periodically disturbed for road maintenance, and few revegetation protocols of known financial cost exist for this disturbance, especially in deserts where extreme environments constrain natural revegetation. In Saguaro National Park of the Arizona Upland Subdivision of the Sonoran Desert, we monitored survival of 1587 outplanted individuals of 33 native perennial species for revegetating a 2006 re-construction project of the park's Cactus Forest Drive. Outplants were caged to deter vertebrate herbivory and provided with supplemental water in the hot, dry part of summer. Overall plant survival was high — 84% (1340 of 1587 outplants) — one year after planting. Survival was generally consistent across species, with survival >50% for 32 of 33 (96%) species. Survival of two tree species (Parkinsonia microphylla (yellow paloverde) and Prosopis velutina (velvet mesquite)), monitored for two years, declined little or not at all from the first to the second year and was 55% and 67%, respectively, at two years. The project met management goals of reestablishing a 1:3 lost: restored ratio of tree density required for habitat restoration of an endangered owl species and of reestablishing a range of native species for aesthetic and vegetation structural restoration. Budget estimates indicated a cost per plant of $54 from grow-out in a nursery through plant maintenance in the field. This cost also included supporting activities of site preparation, exotic plant control, and effectiveness monitoring. The monitoring data, combined with longer term observations, suggest that the National Park Service's revegetation strategy effectively established a range of native plant growth forms and met habitat restoration targets.

Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata (rose checkermallow) is a native forb in the Pacific Northwest, USA; it is a common species in upland prairies of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, and is a state listed endangered species in Washington State. This species provides a high value nectar supply for butterflies in this region, including the endangered Icaricia icarioides fenderi (Fender's blue butterfly), and is therefore targeted for inclusion in habitat restoration projects throughout the region. In past propagation efforts, S. malviflora ssp. virgata has demonstrated poor germination, indicating that there may be some dormancy in seeds of this species. We characterized dormancy and developed germination protocols to support greenhouse propagation of plants for habitat restoration projects. Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata has physical dormancy and may have some physiological dormancy as well. Highest germination (55%) was achieved by scarification followed by four weeks or more of cold moist stratification at 5 °C.

Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) is one of the most widespread and abundant plant species in the intermountain regions of western North America. This species occupies an extremely wide ecological niche ranging from the semi-arid basins to the subalpine. Within this large niche, three widespread subspecies are recognized. Montane ecoregions are occupied by subspecies vaseyana, while subspecies wyomingensis and tridentata occupy basin ecoregions. In cases of wide-ranging species with multiple subspecies, it can be more practical from the scientific and management perspective to assess the climate profiles at the subspecies level. We focus bioclimatic model efforts on subspecies wyomingensis, which is the most widespread and abundant of the subspecies and critical habitat to wildlife including sage-grouse and pygmy rabbits. Using absence points from species with allopatric ranges to Wyoming big sagebrush (i.e., targeted groups absences) and randomly sampled points from specific ecoregions, we modeled the climatic envelope for subspecies wyomingensis using Random Forests multiple-regression tree for contemporary and future climates (decade 2050). Overall model error was low, at 4.5%, with the vast majority accounted for by errors in commission (>99.9%). Comparison of the contemporary and decade 2050 models shows a predicted 39% loss of suitable climate. Much of this loss will occur in the Great Basin where impacts from increasing fire frequency and encroaching weeds have been eroding the A. tridentata landscape dominance and ecological functions. Our goal of the A. tridentata subsp. wyomingensis bioclimatic model is to provide a management tool to promote successful restoration by predicting the geographic areas where climate is suitable for this subspecies. This model can also be used as a restoration-planning tool to assess vulnerability of climatic extirpation over the next few decades.

Revegetating highly disturbed sites in the western United States with native plants is challenging because of poor soils, harsh climates, and the lack of native plant materials suitable for many restoration sites. While there are a variety of products and equipment available to the revegetation specialist, integrating these tools into project planning and construction is often the weak link to successful revegetation. Over a decade ago, the USDA Forest Service and USDOT Federal Highway Administration formed a partnership to address the challenge of restoring native plants on roadsides. The Forest Service has used this partnership as a model for working with other agencies on revegetating abandoned mines, degraded rangelands, high elevation sites, and constructed wetlands. Beginning in the early phase of a project, engineers, environmental specialists, and revegetation specialists work together to craft a revegetation plan at the same time construction plans are being developed. As the project moves into the construction phase, the revegetation specialist, construction engineer, and contractors work together to ensure that the revegetation plan is properly implemented. When the project is completed, the revegetation specialist monitors the results of the revegetation effort and reports the findings. This collaborative effort increases the understanding of available restoration tools, including: (1) when to use them; (2) their effectiveness and costs; and (3) how they are realistically implemented on construction projects. Collaboration has been a key factor in increasing success and advancing the development of new methods and strategies for restoring native plants to highly disturbed sites.

Restoration in the Great Basin is typically a large-scale enterprise, with aerial, drill, and broadcast seeding of perennial species common after wildfires. Arid conditions and invasive plants are significant barriers to overcome, but relatively simple changes to seeds used for restoration may improve success. Here we summarize: 1) the composition of seed mixes used in recent postfire seedings in Nevada, 2) traits that were valued when cultivars and other native seed materials were named and released, and 3) traits that have been demonstrated to increase native perennial grass performance in invaded systems. A review of 420 seeding treatments on public shrublands in Nevada between 2006 and 2009 indicated that native perennial grasses and native shrubs were most frequently included in these projects, followed by exotic and native forbs, and lastly, exotic perennial grasses. Native perennial grasses made up the bulk of seeds used in these treatments, with multiple species of grasses (average of 3.4 species) typically seeded per treatment, while the richness of other functional groups in seed mixes was closer to 1 species per treatment. Traits prioritized in cultivars and native seed material releases included, in order of frequency: forage quality and yield, seed yield, seedling vigor, ability to establish and persist, and drought tolerance, with many other traits mentioned with less frequency. Traits that had consistent support for improving native perennial grass performance in the field were related to early phenology, small size, and higher root allocation. Further tests to determine which traits improve shrub and forb establishment under field conditions could further refine seed source selection, and help maintain diversity in Great Basin systems.

We initiated a study to determine the necessary rates of Journey® herbicide applied pre-emergence to reduce competition and allow establishment of native grasses. Native grasses are important components of prairie ecosystems that provide habitat for wildlife and quality forage for livestock. Spring application of 0.07 kg ai/ha imazapic 0.18 kg ai/ha glyphosate, 0.09 kg ai/ha imazapic 0.25 kg ai/ha glyphosate, and 0.11 kg ai/ha imazapic 0.31 kg ai/ha glyphosate, commercially available as Journey® herbicide, and an untreated control were randomly assigned at each site. Plots were seeded within two weeks following herbicide application with a mixture of native warm- and cool-season grasses. Our results indicate that a pre-emergent application of 0.07 kg ai/ha imazapic 0.18 kg ai/ha glyphosate can improve establishment of planted native grasses.

Native shrublands and their associated grasses and forbs have been disappearing from the Great Basin as a result of grazing practices, exotic weed invasions, altered fire regimes, climate change and other human impacts. Native forb seed is needed to restore these areas. The irrigation requirements for maximum seed production of four key native forb species (Eriogonum umbellatum, Lomatium dissectum, Penstemon speciosus, and Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia) were studied at the Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station beginning in 2005. Species plots were supplied with 0, 100, or 200 mm of subsurface drip irrigation per year using a randomized complete block design with four replications. Irrigation in each plot was divided into four equal increments applied between bud and seed set with timing dependent upon the flowering and seed set phenology of each species. Seed was harvested in each year of production through 2011, and the optimal irrigation rate was determined by regression. The four native forb species differed in their responses to irrigation. Lomatium dissectum seed yields were optimized with 140 mm of irrigation. Eriogonum umbellatum seed yields were optimized with 173 to 200 mm of irrigation in dry years and progressively less to no irrigation in the wettest year. Penstemon speciosus seed yields were optimized with 107 mm of irrigation in dry years and were reduced by irrigation in wet years. Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia seed yields did not respond to irrigation. Water requirements of these species are low, and these results can be used by seed growers to produce native forb seed more economically.

Botanical capacity plays a fundamental role in solving the grand challenges of the next century, including climate change, sustainability, food security, preservation of ecosystem services, conservation of threatened species, and control of invasive species. Yet critical components of botanical education, research, and management are lacking across government, academic, and private sectors. A recent nationwide survey revealed severe shortages of botanists at government agencies, a wave of upcoming retirements, and an alarming decline in botanical degree programs and course offerings at the nation's colleges and universities. Private sector organizations are helping to fill identified gaps in capacity, but need to work strategically with all sectors to ensure their sustainability into the future. If botanical capacity continues to erode at its current rate, the nation's science, sustainability, and land management agenda will suffer, opportunities to economically and efficiently solve environmental challenges will be lost, and our public and private lands will continue to degrade.

The pace of habitat destruction and loss of biological diversity globally exceeds the current capacity of societies to restore functioning ecosystems. Working with prison systems to engage inmates in habitat conservation and ecological science is an innovative approach to increase our ability to reestablish habitat and at-risk species, while simultaneously providing people in custody with opportunities for reciprocal restoration, education, therapeutic activities, safer conditions, and lower costs of imprisonment. We present the benefits of working with prisons to conduct habitat conservation through nursery production of plants and captive rearing of animals, combined with educational experiences, and provide an overview of the Sustainability in Prisons Project Network. Examples of projects with prisons in Washington and Oregon include nursery production of Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis) for restoring habitat of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), nursery production of early blue violet (Viola adunca) to support conservation of threatened Oregon silverspot butterflies (Speyeria zerene hippolyta), captive rearing programs for Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) and endangered Taylor's checkerspot butterflies (Euphydryas editha taylori), and nursery production of over 60 plant species for restoration of native prairies. Including incarcerated people in conservation and science could tap into the positive potential of over 2 million inmates at over 4000 prisons and jails in the United States and create new partnerships to support large-scale habitat restoration and ecological research.

Conventional storage protocols have been developed to preserve genetic diversity of seeds of crops in genebanks. These same principles have been applied to preserve seeds from wild populations. While most principles for conventional storage protocols are applicable to a broad range of wild species, seeds from wild populations are not amenable to some practices that assume high uniformity within the seed lot. Small sample sizes and high heterogeneity of seeds from wild populations demand greater a priori knowledge of characteristic longevity as well as new tools to monitor viability without germinating seeds. Some of the challenges handling seeds from undomesticated plants are exemplified from an experiment with sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) seeds. Sagebrush seeds deteriorate very quickly at high humidity and moderately fast at room temperature. Rapid drying of seeds and immediate placement in the freezer might boost longevity. As with seeds from most wild species, there is insufficient knowledge of sagebrush seed storage traits to guide viability monitoring in the genebank.

Climate change is altering environments where rare plants grow. Assessing species' vulnerability to climate change is important for organizations responsible for managing natural areas and conserving rare species. We assessed the climate change vulnerability of 34 rare plant taxa from the western United States using two methods: NatureServe's Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) and one based on Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) using Maxent. Of the eight taxa categorized as Extremely Vulnerable by the CCVI, five show significant future loss in each of three SDM measures: change in suitable area, suitable area overlap, and habitat suitability in their present location. Both the CCVI and SDM are important tools to assess climate change vulnerability; each method has complementary strengths that can help land managers make decisions. Here we present examples of how land managers can use SDM and the CCVI in combination to assess climate change vulnerability, to inform rare plant management decisions, and to conserve biological diversity.

Proper sourcing of seed for ecological restoration has never been straightforward, and it is becoming even more challenging and complex as the climate changes. For decades, restoration practitioners have subscribed to the “local is best” tenet, even if the definition of “local” was often widely divergent between projects. However, given our increasing ability to characterize habitats, and rapid climate change, we can no longer assume that locally sourced seeds are always the best or even an appropriate option. We discuss how plants are responding to changing climates through plasticity, adaptation, and migration, and how this may influence seed sourcing decisions. We recommend focusing on developing adequate supplies of “workhorse” species, undertaking more focused collections in both “bad” years and “bad” sites to maximize the potential to be able to adapt to extreme conditions as well as overall genetic diversity, and increasing seed storage capacity to ensure we have seed available as we continue to conduct research to determine how best to deploy it in a changing climate.

The native plant communities of the Colorado Plateau have been substantially degraded by human activity, yet in many areas retain a basic natural ecologic integrity. The more heavily impacted regions often require active intervention. Historically, this intervention has been conducted primarily by seeding introduced grasses selected for their forage characteristics. Recent management initiatives that reflect broader goals have highlighted the need to develop native plant materials that can be used to return diverse, resilient communities to degraded areas. The Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program was established to identify the best native plant species, and seed sources within species, that can be used to meet this need. We present an overview of the Program's past and current activities and highlight research and development strategies used to increase the availability of native plant materials adapted to target sites.

Climate change threatens native plant populations and plant communities globally. It is critical that land managers have a clear understanding of climate change impacts on plant species and populations so that restoration efforts can be adjusted accordingly. This paper reviews the development and use of seed transfer guidelines for restoration in the face of global climate change, with an emphasis on the role of common garden studies in predicting climate change impacts. A method is presented for using genecological common garden data to assess population vulnerability to changing environmental conditions that includes delineation of geographical regions where habitats are likely to become marginal, assessment of shifting climatic selection pressures on plant traits, and identification of source material that is likely to be adapted to changing conditions. This method is illustrated using a genecological dataset for bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata). The demonstration indicates that bluebunch populations will be vulnerable to extirpation in areas of their current range, that selection pressures will increase on a trait important to climatic adaptation, and that promising seed sources exist that may be able to persist under novel conditions. Additional avenues for expansion of the presented methods are discussed, and the use of common garden data for management in the context of evolution and changing climates is considered.

Seeds of Success (SOS) is a national native seed collection program, led by the US Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management in partnership with numerous federal agencies and nonfederal organizations. The mission of the SOS is to collect wildland native seed for long-term germplasm conservation and for use in seed research, development of native plant materials, and ecosystem restoration. Each year about 50 SOS teams are stationed across the United States to make seed collections following a single technical protocol. SOS collections are divided into a long-term conservation storage collection, which is stored at multiple USDA Agricultural Research Service seed storage facilities, and a working collection, which is stored at partner institutions and made available for research. In addition to collecting and banking native species for future uses, SOS provides seed that can be increased to provide genetically appropriate plant materials for ecological restoration of disturbed lands. Seed collection is an efficient and cost-effective method for conserving the diversity of plant species into the future. Partners located throughout the United States are critical to the success of this program.

For plant species important in ecological restoration, seed transfer zones have been developed to maximize the probability that sown seed will germinate, establish, persist, and reproduce without negatively impacting the genetic composition of remnant plant populations. However, empirically based seed transfer zones have not been developed for most species. In their absence, maps based on ecological or climatic variables have been suggested as proxies. In the United States, these maps typically include the Environmental Protection Agency's Levels III and IV Ecoregion maps and the US Forest Service's Provisional Seed Zones. Maps of different spatial scales represent a compromise between economic and ecological considerations; those that delineate larger seed transfer zones are less costly to implement but impose more risk of poor adaptation to local conditions. To test the relative suitability of each map in delineating seed transfer zones, we conducted common garden experiments using five forb species found throughout the Great Basin and measured variation in traits thought to influence plant performance. We distinguished between environmentally and genetically controlled variation in measured traits and assessed how well this variation was explained by different candidate seed transfer zones. We found significant, population-level variation in all species for most measured traits. All tested seed transfer zones significantly explained some of this variation, but the proportion explained generally decreased with increasing zone size. Results suggest the intersection of Provisional Seed Zones and Level III Ecoregions was the best proxy for formal seed transfer zones developed based on common garden studies. This spatial scale captured 80% of the variation among source populations on average, and represents a viable compromise between ecological and economic considerations.

As species' geographic ranges and ecosystem functions are altered in response to climate change, there is a need to integrate biodiversity conservation approaches that promote natural adaptation into land use planning. Successful conservation will need to embrace multiple climate adaptation approaches, but to date they have not been conveyed in an integrated way to help support immediate conservation planning and action in the face of inherent spatial uncertainty about future conditions. Instead, these multiple approaches are often conveyed as competing or contradictory alternatives, when in fact, they are complementary. We present a framework that synthesizes six promising spatially explicit adaptation approaches for conserving biodiversity. We provide guidance on implementing these adaptation approaches and include case studies that highlight how biodiversity conservation can be used in planning. We conclude with general guidance on choosing appropriate climate adaptation approaches to amend for conservation planning.