Achieving multi-million-hectare commitments from countries around the world to restore degraded lands in resilient and sustainable ways requires, among other things, huge volumes of tree planting material. Seed systems encompassing all forest reproductive material (e.g., seeds, cuttings, stakes, and wildings), are key to ensuring that sufficient planting material with a diverse range of suitable species, adapted to local conditions and capable of persisting under a changing climate, is available for restoration projects. The ideal structure of a seed system integrates five components: seed selection and innovation, seed harvesting and production, market access, supply and demand, quality control, and an enabling environment. We propose 15 indicators to evaluate these key components and trial them by assessing national seed systems in 7 Latin American countries. We conclude that the indicators enable a straightforward assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of national seed systems, thus assisting governments to identify key areas for improvement and opportunities for horizontal learning.
As global commitments to restoration are underway, science is needed to support capacity to achieve meaningful gains for ecosystems and human communities. In Chile, identification and generation of appropriate plant material is a barrier to achieving major restoration goals under the Paris Climate Agreement. Understanding genetic differentiation among plant populations is needed to maximize restoration success. For Araucaria araucana, a highly threatened iconic South American tree, this information is greatly needed to guide restoration and conservation efforts because this species occurs across a strong climate gradient. We grew seedlings from 12 populations of A. araucana across its range in Chile in a common garden to assess regional (coastal versus Andes mountain ranges) and population variation in key plant traits and relate this variation to environmental variables. We demonstrate that A. araucana is differentiated within regions and populations across its range in Chile by a suite of traits, particularly branch number and length (showing plant architectural differences) and needle width (showing leaf investment differences). We show that this variation is at least partly explained by climate and soil variables, with the most variation explained by differences between regions in temperature annual range. Thus, we recommend that restoration efforts focus on conserving genetic variation among and within regions and their populations and preventing the translocations of genotypes between coastal and Andes populations.
We evaluated the potential of 19 provenances of the coastal variety of Douglas-fir for commercial plantation development in Southern Chile. Seedlings from 668 families were planted in two trials differing in site preparation and previous land use conditions. Height (H), diameter at breast height (DBH), stem volume index (VOL), and survival (SUR) were measured on all trees at the age of 10 years. Provenances from west of the Cascade Crest in Washington and Oregon performed the best at both sites, whereas provenances from east of the Cascade Crest were among the worst. Differences among provenances were not large and average H, DBH, VOL, and SUR across all provenances were 7.3 m, 11.9 cm, 0.06 m3, and 82%, respectively. The results indicate good potential of the species at sites in Southern Chile characterized by high levels of precipitation. Seed sources from coastal Washington and Oregon could provide appropriate planting material under current climate conditions. Study Implications: This study examined the performance in growth and survival of different provenances of Douglas-fir with the intention to inform foresters which are the most appropriate provenances for planting activities. The provenances tested had an average survival of 82%. Provenances originating from west of the Cascade Crest in Washington and Oregon were the best performing provenances in the study area and can be used as planting material for the establishment of large-scale plantations.
Los ecosistemas forestales constituyen una de las mayores reservas de biodiversidad en el mundo. Comprender la compleja red de interacciones ecológicas que ocurren entre los componentes bióticos dentro de estos ecosistemas, y cómo las fuerzas de evolución dirigen estas interacciones, siempre ha sido un campo desafiante. No obstante, es importante dar este salto conceptual, debido a que las especies no evolucionan en el vacío, más bien son el producto de las interacciones de cientos de especies que coexisten en entornos variables. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo aportar antecedentes preliminares sobre interacciones, tomando como marco de estudio las comunidades de especies arbóreas y polinizadores nativos y exóticos. Para esto se recopilan, interacciones reportadas en la literatura. Irrefutablemente la degradación de los bosques está alterando las redes ecológicas, como las interacciones planta-polinizador, entre otras. Sin embargo, el conocimiento de los posibles efectos que subyacen a la pérdida de especies arbóreas sobre estas interacciones es aún limitado, y no es posible cuantificarlo. Se enfatiza que este trabajo es preliminar y no tiene como objetivo compilar para discutir las interacciones reportadas en este marco de estudio, pero sí se espera incentivar a la comunidad científica a profundizar en esta materia con nuevos antecedentes teóricos y desarrollo de pruebas experimentales, a través de una investigación multidisciplinaria.
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