Seeding Resilient Restoration: An Indicator System for the Analysis of Tree Seed Systems

Abstract

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.

Thermotherapy and Storage Temperature Manipulations Limit the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species in Stored Pedunculate Oak Acorns

“…The use of high-quality planting material guarantees the success of seed-based restoration programs [77], and selection of forest restoration material with priority areas for sourcing seeds can be supported by provenance comparisons reported in our studies (Figure 2) because oxidation processes reported in stored seeds are transferred to seedlings [27]. Provenance selection determines the growth performance of Q. robur [78]; in this context, seeds of Parczew provenance quickly losing vitality should not be considered for long-term storage and reforestation purposes.…”

Are Tree Seed Systems for Forest Landscape Restoration Fit for Purpose? An Analysis of Four Asian Countries

“…Our assessment reveals that the frameworks underlying the national tree seed systems vary between countries, likely as a result of geographical, historical and cultural differences [22,54]. Some of the strengths and weaknesses identified in this study can be directly associated with these underlying frameworks.…”

“…Further research is needed to understand how informal tree seed systems operate under different policy and socio-economic contexts and how operators can be supported to participate in formal seed markets. We therefore recommend adding a new indicator to the indicator set proposed by Atkinson et al [54], addressing the involvement of local communities in seed production and the existence of related incentives and extension to support their role.…”

“…To assess the strengths and weaknesses of the national tree seed systems we used an indicator system developed by Atkinson et al [54] which the authors applied to analyse seed systems for FLR in seven Latin American countries. The indicator system includes five interlinked components determining a well-functioning seed system, namely: i.…”

“…It should be noted that informal seed systems and unregistered temporary nurseries could not be covered in detail in the national level assessment, due to their localised and often informal nature. Additional methodological details, including the approach for scoring the indicators using a questionnaire, can be found in the Supplementary Materials Tables S1 and S2, and are further described in Atkinson et al [26,54].…”