Can 20 year old stored seeds be used for plant translocation? An investigation in the arctic-alpine specialist Viscaria alpina

Fiona White ¹, Marco Asnaghi ², Micol Orengo ², Thomas Abeli ², Graziano Rossi ², Andrea Mondoni ³

University of Pavia; Free University of Bozen-Bolzano ¹, University of Pavia ², University of Pavia; National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) ³

Background The increasing number of threatened plant species requires urgent conservation action. One solution is to translocate plants back to their natural habitat. Many seeds of wild species are stored in dedicated seed banks but there is little information on the suitability of these seeds for plant translocation. There are concerns that stored seeds may produce plants that are not adapted to the current climate. This is especially true in alpine areas where the climate is warming faster than the global average. We used three old (2000 – 2005; ‘ancestor’) and three recent (2018 – 2020; ‘descendant’) seed accessions of Viscaria alpina, an artic-alpine specialist, to produce plants which were translocated back to the seed collection site. We monitored plant survival over three years and recorded vegetative, flowering and seed traits. Results Plant survival was high after the third year of translocation (96%) but those producing flowers and the number of flowers per individual decreased. Descendants produced shorter flowering stems than ancestors suggesting plants have evolved to be smaller over 20 years. The number of flowers produced, and the seed mass, number and germination did not differ between ancestors and descendants, indicating these are more conservative traits. Conclusions Plant translocation of an alpine species using old and recently collected seed bank seeds was successful, at least in the short term, demonstrating that seeds at least 20 years old can be used for plant conservation. However, flowering is starting to decline, potentially indicating a reduction in reproductive output. Long-term monitoring is required to determine the success of this translocation. Plants produced from newer seeds were smaller so may have improved drought tolerance, likely in response to the hotter and drier conditions experienced at the study site. Therefore, where possible, we recommend using recently collected seed accessions for plant translocation.

Main author career stage: Postdoc / Fellow

Contribution type: Talk

First choice session: 3. Biodiversity and global change

Second choice session: 2. Ecology