Toward diverse seed sourcing to upscale ecological restoration in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

Seed markets are vital to scaling up ecosystem restoration in the Brazilian Cerrado, home of the world’s most species-rich grasslands and savannas. We compiled lists of species traded by four major Cerrado seed supply systems to investigate the representativeness of the species currently available for seed-based restoration. We also identified whether dominant ground-layer species are being sourced for seed production. Seeds from 263 Cerrado species can be purchased for restoration, of which 68% are trees, particularly legumes (24%). 63% of the traded species were found in only one seed supply system. The five most dominant graminoids of the Cerrado ground layer were available for sale, but two additional species uncommon in old-growth areas represented 44% of the sales of a key seed trader in Central Brazil. The expansion of Cerrado seed supply systems should be supported to further increase the number of species on the market. Sourcing seeds from a diversity of herbaceous species is central to facilitating the restoration of species-rich grasslands and savannas in the Cerrado. Recovering the diversity and functioning of old-growth open ecosystems through seeds will depend on increasing the supply and demand for species typical of Cerrado’s ground layer.

Elevation modulates the impacts of climate change on the Brazilian Cerrado flora

“…S‐SDMs can offer practitioners lists of species that will persist over time in a given area, thus boosting climate change resilience in restoration projects (Butterfield et al., 2017; Fremout et al., 2020). The species selection for restoration can be further refined by crossing S‐SDM recommendations with the species available on the market as seeds and seedlings (Coutinho et al., 2023; Silva et al., 2022). We have made available an R script based on the analyses presented here for (1) conservationists to visualize the current and future distribution of all the 7398 species studied here, and (2) restoration practitioners to generate lists of species prone to occur in a specified coordinate in the future (2040).…”

Fire has contrasting effects on the survival, growth, and reproduction of Cerrado grasses with differing regenerative strategies

“…Trachypogon spicatus is usually dominant (Amaral et al., 2022; Antar et al., 2022) but generally occurs in well‐preserved habitats (Horstmann et al., 2023), while the other species colonize anthropized and degraded habitats. Aristida riparia and Trachypogon spicatus are used in direct seeding to restore Cerrado communities (Pellizzaro et al., 2017; Silva et al., 2022). Trachypogon spicatus was chosen because of its dominance while the other species were chosen based on the number of flowering individuals.…”

“…but it has focused on species with high seeding investment (Sampaio et al, 2019;Silva et al, 2022). For instance, Aristida riparia is among the top-selling species for direct seeding, alongside other generalists (Silva et al, 2022), which often dominate these novel communities (Giles et al, 2022;Pilon et al, 2023).…”

“…Aristida riparia and Trachypogon spicatus are used in direct seeding to restore Cerrado communities (Pellizzaro et al, 2017;Silva et al, 2022). Trachypogon spicatus was chosen because of its dominance while the other species were chosen based on the number of flowering individuals.…”

Produção e plantio de mudas de gramíneas nativas para restauração de fisionomias abertas do Cerrado

“…Esforços para otimizar a cadeia de sementes nativas são urgentes não só pela alta demanda por restauração, mas, também, pelo aumento do desmatamento em algumas regiões de grande importância para conservação da biodiversidade de recursos naturais, como o Cerrado (Silva et al 2022). O Cerrado é o segundo maior bioma do Brasil, nele predominam formações savânicas e campestres , Lira-Martins et al 2022), e por isso projetos de restauração na maior parte deste bioma devem incluir espécies herbáceas e arbustivas nativas, para manter a estrutura dos ecossistemas originais, que darão suporte novamente à biodiversidade e aos serviços ecossistêmicos providos por esses tipos de vegetação .…”