Abstract
According to the Norwegian Diversity Act, practitioners of restoration in Norway are instructed to use seed mixtures of local provenance. However, there are no guidelines for how local seed should be selected. In this study, we use genetic variation in a set of alpine species (Agrostis mertensii, Avenella flexuosa, Carex bigelowii, Festuca ovina, Poa alpina and Scorzoneroides autumnalis) to define seed transfer zones to reduce confusion about the definition of ‘local seeds’. The species selected for the study are common in all parts of Norway and suitable for commercial seed production. The sampling covered the entire alpine region (7–20 populations per species, 3–15 individuals per population). We characterised genetic diversity using amplified fragment length polymorphisms. We identified different spatial genetic diversity structures in the species, most likely related to differences in reproductive strategies, phylogeographic factors and geographic distribution. Based on results from all species, we suggest four general seed transfer zones for alpine Norway. This is likely more conservative than needed for all species, given that no species show more than two genetic groups. Even so, the approach is practical as four seed mixtures will serve the need for restoration of vegetation in alpine regions in Norway.
Highlights
In many cases, natural succession is sufficient to restore an area to its original state after anthropogenic disturbance (e.g. Prach and Pysek 2001)
Delineation of species specific seed transfer zones Four of the six species (Poa alpina, Festuca ovina, Scorzoneroides autumnalis and Avenella flexuosa) show shallow spatial structuring of genetic variation with the two first axes in the principal coordinate analysis (PCO) explaining less than 15% of the variation (Fig. 3), and most of the genetic variation in these species is found within populations (Table 3)
Our study shows that dense and nation-wide sampling of several species commonly used in restoration of vegetation in combination with highly variable and neutral genetic markers is a useful and practical approach for defining local seed provenance
Summary
Natural succession is sufficient to restore an area to its original state after anthropogenic disturbance (e.g. Prach and Pysek 2001). Natural succession is sufficient to restore an area to its original state after anthropogenic disturbance In areas where succession is slow and risk of erosion is high, there is a danger of reinvasion of non-native species or for aesthetical and technical reasons seeding to restore vegetation may be necessary. Several assessments of revegetation indicate that the vegetation cover needs to exceed 70–80% to reduce soil erosion to an acceptable degree in these habitats (Markart et al 1997; Tasser et al 1999; Peratoner 2003), and establishment of such a vegetation cover within reasonable time is crucial. Because natural revegetation processes are so slow, human intervention is necessary to avoid erosion In Norway, approximately 30% of the mainland is above or
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