Dissertation defense, University of Montana, 2015

1. The Science Behind the Selection of Native
Plant Materials
Alexis Gibson
Dissertation Defense
May 2015

2. Ecological Restoration
• Background on local adapation - conceptual

4. Based on work by Clausen, Keck and Hiesey

5. Local Adaptation
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A B
FITNESS

6. Local Adaptation
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A B
FITNESS
A

7. Local Adaptation
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A B
FITNESS
A B

8. Wright, Stanton, Scherson 2006
NORMAL HEAVY METALS

10. DISTANCE

11. CLIMATE SOILSDISTANCE

12. CLIMATE SOILS
DISTURBANCE
DISTANCE

13. CLIMATE
SOILS
DISTURBANCE
DISTANCE

15. PLANT COMMUNITY

16. PLANT COMMUNITY SOIL BIOTA

17. PLANT COMMUNITY SOIL BIOTA
MUTUALISTS

18. PLANT COMMUNITY SOIL BIOTA
MUTUALISTS
PATHOGENS

19. PLANT COMMUNITY SOIL BIOTA
MUTUALISTS
PATHOGENS HERBIVORES

20. 1 2 3 1 2 3
Bischoff et al. 2006

21. 1 2 3 1 2 3
Bischoff et al. 2006

22. 1 2 3 1 2 3
Bischoff et al. 2006

25. Polyploidy
Diploid = 2x

26. Polyploidy
Triploid = 3x Tetraploid = 4xDiploid = 2x

27. Cytotype
• An individual of a species with a different ploidy than another
Diploid
(2x)
Tetraploid
(4x)

28. Polyploidy
• 13% species have multiple cytotypes (Severns et al. 2006)
• Crosses between cytotypes reduce population fitness
• Diploid (2x) x Tetraploid (4x) = Triploid (3x)

29. 0
20
40
60
80
100
2x-2x 4x-4x 2x-4x
Germination(%)
TRIPLOIDS (3x)
Adapted from Needham and Erickson 1992
3x seeds often aborted

30. 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
2x 4x 3x
RelativeFitness
Adapted from Burton and Husband 2000
3x plants have low fitness

32. Local adaptation and native plant materials selection

33. How informative is local adaptation literature for
restoration?
Literature review
Local adaptation and native plant materials selection

34. Do native species respond to invasion by spotted
knapweed?
Greenhouse experiment
Local adaptation and native plant materials selection

35. Considerations for seed transfer

36. How does polyploidy interact with seed transfer
guidelines?
Flow cytometry and common garden
Considerations for seed transfer

37. Which seed transfer zone works best in
Montana and Idaho?
Common garden and model comparison
Considerations for seed transfer

39. Integrating Literature and
Management
• Mismatch between research and
restoration conditions
• Short time spans
• Limited information on germination and
emergence

40. Response to Invasion

41. Leger 2008Experienced Naïve

42. Steven Dewey
Bluebunch wheatgrass
Pseudoroegneria spicata
Spotted knapweed
Centaurea stoebe

43. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Experienced Naïve
Mt Jumbo
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Experienced Naïve
Germination(%)
Bison Range
Adapted from Callaway et al. 2005

44. Lesica and Atthowe 2007
Experienced
Naïve
Goldar

45. Lesica and Atthowe 2007
Experienced
Naïve
Goldar

47. TOLERANCE

48. TOLERANCE
SUPPRESSION

49. Response to Invasion
• Are there population or experience-
type differences in:
• Traits
• Competitive ability
• Are tolerance and suppression
related?

50. 14 wild populations:
• 8 invader naïve (IN)
• 6 invader experienced (IE)
Cultivar Anatone

51. Competitive Ability
• Relative Interaction Index (RII)
• Scale from -1 to 1
• Negative values: harmed by competition
• Positive values: higher biomass with competition
• Tolerance
• Knapweed  bluebunch
• Bluebunch biomass
• Suppression
• Bluebunch  knapweed
• Knapweed biomass

52. Treatment
Control Invaded
Biomass(g)
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
**

53. Treatment
Control Invaded
Biomass(g)
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
**

54. Treatment
Control Invaded
Biomass(g)
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
**

55. Overall Anatone BL H LH LNF MCL MJ MM PT
Tolerance(RII-Adult)
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
IE
IN

56. Overall Anatone BL H LH LNF MCL MJ MM PT
Tolerance(RII-Adult)
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
IE
IN
Experienced
Naive

57. Overall Anatone BL H LH LNF MCL MJ MM PT
Tolerance(RII-Adult)
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
IE
IN
Experienced
Naive

58. Suppression
-1.0-0.8-0.6-0.4-0.20.00.2
Tolerance
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
IE
IN
Anatone

59. Suppression
-1.0-0.8-0.6-0.4-0.20.00.2
Tolerance
-0.5
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
IE
IN
Anatone

60. Response to Invasion
• Populations vs species
• Geographic mosaic (Thompson 1999)

61. Response to Invasion
• Population vs species
• Anatone vs wild

62. Response to Invasion
• Population vs species
• Anatone vs wild
• Tolerance vs suppression
• Atwater 2014

63. PART 2:
Considerations for Seed Transfer

64. Seed Transfer
• Similar enough to prevent
negative consequences
• Species-specific data
St Clair et al. 2014

66. Ploidy and Seed Transfer
• Cytotypes may not segregate by habitat (e.g. Baack 2004)
• Crosses between cytotypes can reduce population fitness

67. Bower et al. 2014

68. Bluebunch wheatgrass
• Most populations diploid (2x)
• Tetraploid (4x) in northern range
(Larson 2004)
• Commonly used in restoration

69. What is the frequency and distribution of
polyploids?
Are trait differences due to cytotype or
ecoregion?
Which provisional transfer zone is best?

71. Ecoregion
15 16 17
Frequency
0
20
40
60
80
100 2x
4 x
Mixed

72. Ecoregion
15 16 17
Frequency
0
20
40
60
80
100 2x
4 x
Mixed

73. Finalbiomass(g)
0
5
10
15
20
Ecoregion
15 16 17
Seedset(number)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Finalbiomass(g)
0
5
10
15
20
a
b
a
A)
Ploidy group
2x M 4x
Seedset(number)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
B)
C)
D)
a
a
b
a
a
b
a
a
a
a

74. Finalbiomass(g)
0
5
10
15
20
Ecoregion
15 16 17
Seedset(number)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Finalbiomass(g)
0
5
10
15
20
a
b
a
A)
Ploidy group
2x M 4x
Seedset(number)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
B)
C)
D)
a
a
b
a
a
b
a
a
a
a
Ecoregion
differences

75. Polyploidy and Seed Transfer
• Polyploidy common in this area
• 60% of populations
• Ecoregion

76. Polyploidy and Seed Transfer
• Polyploidy common in this area
• Mixed populations are rare
• No 3x individuals

77. Polyploidy and Seed Transfer
• Polyploidy common in this area
• Mixed populations are rare
• Tetraploid-only populations

78. Which provisional transfer
zone is best?

79. Provisional Transfer Zones
Target
population

80. Provisional Transfer Zones
Target
population
Level III
ecoregion

81. Provisional Transfer Zones
Target
population
Climate
Level III
ecoregion

82. Provisional Transfer Zones
Target
population
Climate
Level III
ecoregion
Climate
within
ecoregion

84. CLIMATE CLIMATE within ECOREGION

85. CLIMATE CLIMATE within ECOREGION
Seed Set
Mortality

86. CLIMATE CLIMATE within ECOREGION
2011 Height
2012 Circumference
Final Biomass
Seed Set
Mortality

87. Climate Results
• Winter temperatures
• Increased mortality, decreased seed set
• Warm temperature and precipitation

88. Provisional transfer zones
• Location of research and use
• Warm temperatures (Bower et al. 2014)

89. Provisional transfer zones
• Location of research and use
• “Best” model may depend on traits

90. Science and Management

91. 1. Availability
• Expensive to collect
• Limited quantity
2. Necessity not always clear
• Higher fitness found 45% of the time (Leimu
and Fischer 2008)
• Variation in “genetically appropriate”
Considerations for Prioritizing
Local Seed Sources

92. Invaders
• Primary goal of restoration?

93. Invaders
• Primary goal of restoration?
• Co-evolution (e.g. Leger and Espeland
2013)

94. Polyploidy
• Equally important as local adapation

95. Polyploidy
• Equally important as local adapation
• Difficult to assess in common garden
• Flow cytometry

96. Transfer Zones
• Some species-specific information
needed

97. Transfer Zones
• Some species-specific information
needed
• Multiple “best” options for transfer

99. Acknowledgments
• Committee: Ray Callaway, Lila Fishman, Solomon Dobrowski, Dean Pearson,
Elizabeth Crone
• Project Partner: Susan Rinehart, FS Native Plant Program Manager
• Research funded by:
• FS Region 1 Native Plant Materials Program
• MT EPSCoR Institute on Ecosystems
• Cara Nelson + Nelson Lab
• Bryan + Sully

100. QUESTIONS?