[PCA] Eastern Seed Zone Forum is seeking input on provisional seed zones for Eastern United States

[De Angelis, Patricia]

YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED!

The Eastern Seed Zone Forum has prepared a draft of the eastern seed zone
map with 104 seed zones for the eastern US (including Kansas, Nebraska,
North and South Dakota)!


The ultimate goal to produce a seed zone map and associated data file that
is freely accessible to all who handle seeds and seedlings in the eastern
US. Certain ecological boundaries that don’t adhere to county lines (such
as the north shore of Lake Superior, for example) may need to be delineated
on a case by case basis


There is an online form to solicit feedback on the delineation of specific
counties, delineation of subzones for plants, and delineation of other
areas that might warrant a separate seed zone. You do not need to download
Arc GIS software to view the map, and editing privileges are reserved for
our core group.


REVIEW THE MAP AND SUBMIT COMMENTS: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3F68K8D


States involved: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of
Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania , Puerto Rico, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West
Virginia, Wisconsin.


THE EASTERN SEED ZONE FORUM SO FAR
BY CARRIE PIKE

Seed companies and nurseries share a common goal to sell a high-quality
product, whether bulk seeds or seedlings, to maximize the success of
restoration and reforestation projects. One component of quality assurance
is ensuring that the seed source is locally or genetically adapted to the
location of the planting site to avoid mal-adaption of the plant material.
In Canada and the western US, these decisions about matching seed to its
planting location are facilitated by seed collection zones that set a
framework for making reasonable decisions on what is local.

Provisional Seed Zones were established for the entire US (Bower et al
2014, Generalized provisional seed zones for native plants, Ecological
Applications, 24(5): 913–919), but were never fully adopted in the east, so
that decisions about seed zones vary by the end-user, either an agency,
company, or university. The USDA Forest Service and its partners have
undertaken work to develop seed zones that are more likely to be adopted by
agencies and companies in the eastern US. The group tasked with developing
seed zones is known as the Eastern Seed Zone Forum (ESZF).

The ESZF was started in early 2016 with support from State and Private
Forestry. Other partners include the National Forest System, Research and
Development, and stakeholders. The Southern Regional Extension Forestry
(SREF), a key partner, set up a website (www.easternseedzones.com), and
piloted a webinar series related to the science of developing and using
seed zones. Twelve webinars were conducted from March 2017 to March 2018
and are archived on the website for free viewing.

ESZF Webinars: http://easternseedzones.com/webinars

RESULTS OF THE 2018 EASTERN SEED ZONE SUMMIT

The University of Kentucky hosted our Seed Zone Summit at their Good Barn
facility in Lexington May 9-10 2018 to allow for exchange of information
and ideas about establishing seed zones in the eastern United States. Over
30 people attended from across the eastern US representing states,
industry, NGOs, and the US Forest Service’s three deputy areas. Our
facilitator from the USDA Forest Service Enterprise Team, Clay Coleman,
conducted a survey of attendees, the results of which are available after
the link.

More info:
http://easternseedzones.com/news/results-of-the-2018-eastern-seed-zone-summit/


TO GET INVOLVED:

E-mail Dr. George Hernandez (ghernandez at fs.fed.us) or Dr Carolyn Pike (
cpike at fs.fed.us) to be added to our lists and to join the conversation!
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