Propagation of native Arctic and alpine species with a restoration potential

Abstract

Arctic and alpine plant communities today are subject to an increasing frequency and intensity of anthropogenic disturbances. Good understanding of reproductive behaviour and regenerative capacity of native species is important in a restoration situation following human disturbance in Arctic and alpine vegetation. Seeds, bulbils or cuttings from 12 native Arctic and alpine species were collected from Longyearbyen in Svalbard and Dovre Mountain on the Norwegian mainland. Propagation ability was tested in greenhouse conditions. Seeds of Papaver dahlianum, Oxyria digyna, Luzula arcuata ssp. confusa, and bulbils of Bistorta vivipara all had more than 50% germination. Dryas octopetala had less than 10% germination. Both quick and slow germinators were identified among the tested species. Seed storage temperature (+4 °C, ?1 °C and ?20 °C) showed no overall effect on germination. The rooting capacity of cuttings from evergreen and deciduous species was tested. Arctostaphylos uvaursi, Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Salix herbacea and S. polaris had more than 70% rooting ability, while Dryas octopetala and Cassiope tetragona had less than 10%. Saxifraga oppositifolia showed large variation in rooting ability, ranging from 20-90%. The species with high germination and rooting ability are used in an extended restoration experiment in the study areas.