Turning Over a New Leaf: A Prototype for an Icelandic Native Seed Production Manual

• Main Author: Courtney Michelle Brooks 1991-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Umhverfis- og auðlindafræði; Vistgerðir; Æðplöntur; Umhverfisvernd; Iceland; Salix lanata
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/35911

There is increasing demand for the use of native plants in ecological restoration and reclamation projects around Iceland, yet there is not a diverse supply of native material available for project implementation. This thesis explores the status of native seed production in Iceland, develops a protocol for rating native species for ecological tolerance and seed production, and presents a prototype for Icelandic native seed production manual. The objective is to create a useful tool for restoration practitioners and raise awareness on the potential of native Icelandic flora for restoration and reclamation. All native vascular plant species in the Icelandic flora were scored according to their ecological tolerance, a score comprised of species abundance within four main habitat types: birch woodlands, grasslands, heathlands and wetlands, and their potential for nitrogen fixation. Species were separated into four functional groups: grasses and graminoids, forbs and horsetails, legumes, and woody shrubs and trees. The top 10 scoring species from each functional group were then ranked by how much human effort is involved in producing seed. Production effort was defined by ease of seed harvest, ease of seed harvesting, cleaning and preparation, storage, and germination requirements. The top scoring species from each functional group were selected for a prototype manual. The selected species included: Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) Roemer & Schultes, Rumex acetosa L. subsp. acetosa, Salix lanata L., and Trifolium repens L. The prototype manual includes a description of vegetative and floral morphology, species distribution and distribution map, species occurrence by region, habitat types, flowering time, pollination mode, breeding system, guidelines for harvesting wild seed, cleaning effort, seed weight, seed storage behavior, germination requirements and a botanical drawing of each species. Aukin áhersla á notkun innlendra plantna í endurheimt vistkerfa kallar á breytt vinnubrögð og stórauknar rannsóknir á íslensku ...