2. «The seed book»
-Handbook for collecting
local seeds for insect-
friendly flowering
meadows
Ref: Svalheim, E. (red.), Aamlid, T.S., Bär, A.,
Bele, B., Daugstad, K., Hatteland, B.A.,
Henriksen, M.V., Hetland, O., Sundsdal, K.,
2021. Frøboka- Handbok for innsamling av
lokale frø til innsektvennlig blomstereng.
Fagbokforlaget.
4. Action plan for Hay meadows
• Hay meadow- Critically
endangered habitat type, CR, on
the Norwegian Red List of Habitat
Types (2018)
• Defined as a selected habitat type
with some protection through the
Norwegian Biodiversity Act (2011)
• Landowners can apply for support
for restoration and annual mowing
• In 2021 about 1000 hay meadows
have been mowed = 700-800
hectares 18
114
233
303
454
511
554
579
686 701
780
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Number of hay meadows managed
through the action plan
5. Mapped hayfields (Nov. 2021)
• 3950 localities have been mapped. This amounts to
4000 hectares
• Approximately 3000 hectares of these satisfy the
requirements for the selected habitat type
• This means that 1/4 of the registered area of hay
meadows are under management by now
• The action plan will be revised in 2021. It is a goal that
all hayfields with high and medium value will be
managed in the next period 2022-2035
Photo: Sissel Rübberdt
6. 100 years ago, hayfields were one of the most common habitat types in Norway
Large areas were mowed in the outfield The hay was transported home during winter
Photos: Aust-Agder museum and archive, Setesdalsmuseet.
7. Focus on landscape ecology and
connectivity
Restore and establish:
• support habitats- to strengthen the endangered semi-
natural habitats
• stepping stones- to bind them together
8. For more semi-
natural diversity,
seeds are needed!
We need:
• professional seed
production of larger
quantities
• people who themselves
collect seeds in the
local area and establish
small meadows
9. NIBIO Landvik: “Norwegian center of competence for flowering meadows and wild seeds”
www.blomstereng.no
10. NIBIO Landvik produces flower seed mixtures for nine regions
6. Northern mountain areas
7. Central Norway: Trøndelag,
Nordmøre, Romsdal
2. Southwest Norway
8. Nordland
3. Western Norway
9. Troms and Finnmark
5. Eastern lowlands
4. Southern mountain areas
1. Southeast Norway
11. Seed production at NIBIO Landvik
• Native flower seed mixtures for Southeastern Norway were
launched in 2019
• In the spring 2022, regional seed mixtures will be launched
for four or five more regions
• Seed mixtures for all regions will be on sale in 2024
• In 2021, seeds of 70 species are in production
• Total seed production in 2021: About 400 kg
• The seeds are produced at NIBIO Landvik and by almost 30
contract seed growers
Dry meadow mixture Southeast, 2021
Species
Spire%
2021
Weight% in
mixture
Achillea millefolium, Grimstad 92 1
Anthyllis vulneraria Grimstad 78 1,6
Campanula rotundifolia Oslo, 50 1,86
Centaurea scabiosa, Ringerike 61 1,99
Centaurea scabiosa, Larvik 63 8
Dianthus deltoides Oslo 86 11
Echium vulgare, Arendal 7 3,04
Echium vulgare, Sandefjord 76 1,96
Fragaria vesca Grimstad 73 0,2
Hylothelephium maximum, Oslo 60 0,76
Hypericum perforatum, Ringerike 94 9,1
Hypochaeris maculata Ringerike 86 0,92
Knautia arvensis Larvik 30 1,6
Knautia arvensis Oslo 22 7,61
Leucathemum vulgare Grimstad 85 2,9
Leucathemum vulgare Oslo 88 3
Lotus corniculatus, Skien 50 3,1
Origanum vulgare Tvedestrand 82 1,38
Pimpinella saxifraga Kongsberg 48 5,4
Plantago lanceolata Grimstad 30 1,61
Potentilla argentea Tvedestand 43 3,7
Primula veris, Oslo 25 0,63
Primula veris, Ringerike 30 0,6
Scorzoneroides autumn., Tv.strand 87 4,4
Silene vulgaris Gjerstad 60 7,59
Solidago virgaurea, Larvik 40 4,25
Trifolium arvense Grimstad 57 6,6
Trifolium prantense Grimstad 80 4,2
SUM 100
24 species
24. We all wish you a
good seed harvest!
The publication is
supported by
Sparebankstiftelsen, the
Norwegian Agriculture
Agency and the Norwegain
Ministry of Agriculture and
Food, LMD.
For sale:
https://www.fagbokforlaget
.no/Fr%C3%B8boka/I97882
45035025
Bolette Bele Annette Bär Bjørn Arild Hatteland
Kristin Daugstad
Kristine Rosland Sundsdal
Marie Vestgaard Henriksen
Trygve Aamlid Ellen Svalheim (red.) Ove Hetland
Editor's Notes
Thank you for inviting NIBIO and me to give a lecture on this topic! My name is Ellen Svalheim. I am a botanist/biologist and work as a researcher in NIBIO at the Department of Cultural Landscape and Biodiversity. My main subject area is endangered culturally dependent biodiversity.
Today I will present Frøboka – “The Seed book”- a handbook for collecting local seeds for insect-friendly flowering meadows. But first I want to tell about the big "role models" for the flowering meadows that we want to get more of. I want to tell about the status of the hayfields in Norway.
I also want to tell you about the background for The Seed book, which has its origin in the advisory service for flowering meadows and the production of wildflower seeds that we conduct at NIBIO Landvik.
First an introduction to the really valuable flower meadows - the hay meadows. The species-rich hayfields in Norway received their own action plan in 2009.
Since 2009 I have worked as a national coordinator for follow-up the action plan, on behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency.
(Venter på tall fra Mdir for 2020 og 21 – figuren viser 780, så siste setning i kommentaren bør rettes fra 600-700)
Species-rich hay meadow are listed as a critically endangered habitat type on the Norwegian Red List (2018). In addition, the habitat type has got the status of a selected habitat type with a certain protection through the Biodiversity Act.
Since we started in 2009, we now have about 1000 hay meadows under follow-up through the action plan work. These meadows are spread all over the country. The landowners of these meadows can apply for support for restoration and annual mowing and care.
The follow-up of the action plan has been a success, with many interested people and more and more meadows under management. Despite this, these important and species-rich biotopes constitute only small areas. In total, we have about 600-700 hectares of hayfields managed through the action plan in Norway.
According to Naturbase, (which is The Norwegian Environment Agency`database for endangered and valuable nature), a about 3950 hayfields with a total area of 4000 hectars have been mapped. Of these, about 3000 hectares fulfil the requirements for the selected habitat type through the Biodiversity Act, which means that at present we have about 1/4 of the mapped area with hay meadows under follow-up in Norway. But much remains to be mapped so we expect the number of hayfields to rise.
This winter we are working on revising the action plan for hayfields. It is a goal that all hayfields with high and medium value shall be managed in the next period 2022-2035.
These two photos were taken in the 1920s and 1930s in Setesdal, a valley in Agder county in the southernmost part of Norway.
Based on Statistics Norway's agricultural censuses, we know that the area with hayfields under management today constitutes 0.2 per cent of hay meadows that were mowed 100 years ago. In Norway, very large areas with semi-natural vegetation were mowed in both infields and outfields to be used as winter fodder. For example, in Valle municipality in Setesdal where these photos were taken, the outfield mowing area in 1907 was about 4,000 hectares, which is the same area we have mapped in total in the whole country per 2021. This is six times as large as the area which is now managed through the action plan.
Through the action plan and the cultural landscape management in general, we have in recent years focused on the intermediate [intermidiet] areas. We have gained an increased focus on landscape ecology and connectivity. How can the open landscape be arranged for more flower-rich areas, which for example can be good support habitats around the hayfields or other species-rich habitats in the cultural landscape, or act as important stepping stones to bind habitats together?
To establish new, and restore existing flower meadows, seeds of native wildflowers are needed. We need both professional seed production of larger quantities and we also need people who are able to collect local seeds themselves.
At NIBIO Landvik near by Grimstad in Southern Norway, we established ‘ The Norwegian center of competence for flowering meadows and wild seeds’ in 2018, as a part of the project ‘From grassland to flowering meadows’. Top left you can see my colleague, the leader of this project and the leader of flower seed production at Landvik Trygve Aamlid.
In 2016, we started to collect and multiply native seeds of wildflowers. NIBIO Landvik has extensive experience with seed production. Ever since its establishment in 1950, the research center has been a leading player in research on the propagation and use of grass seeds, clover seed, vegetable seeds and seeds of wildflowers.
We have divided Norway into nine regions and now produce regional, native seed mixtures for each region, based on original/mother seeds collected in the region.
Since 2019, we have had seed mixtures for dry meadows and wetter meadows in the Southeast region of Norway for sale. To the left you can see the composition of the dry meadow mixture for the southeast this year. It contained 24 different species. We also had a seed mixture for central Norway, for sale this year with ten species. Next year, this mixture will contain more species.
In the spring of 2022, regional seed mixtures will also be launched for four or five more regions. By 2024, we will have seed mixtures for all regions for sale. In 2021 we produce seeds from 70 semi-natural species. In addition to the seed production that we carry out on our own area at NIBIO Landvik, almost 30 contract seed growers also produce seeds for us. The seed mixtures are quality assured by me and other regional botanists and insect researchers and are becoming increasingly species-rich.
Seed production at NIBIO Landvik is an ongoing process. Since we haven`t had seed mixtures for all regions ready for sale yet, we have encouraged people to collect seeds themselves. And we also think: If many people collect seeds locally, it will help to take care of the genetic variation of the species. To motivate local seed harvesting and to help all those interested, the idea came to make “Frøboka” / The Seed book - a handbook for collecting local seeds for flower meadows.
The seed book gives advice and inspiration on where and how to collect seeds of wildflowers. It tells when the different plants bloom and set seeds. The book also gives advice on different methods for establishing flower meadows, or how to restore meadows in decay (forfall).
[Bilde 14-22 kjøres raskt gjennom]
Anyone who know what this is? This is a very well-known plant,- Bluebell Campanula rotundifolia.
Many people know the plants when they bloom, but fewer know what the plants look like when they are withered and have mature seeds.
With the help of detailed photos, we make it easier to recognize the plants in different stages of development: What they look like when they have withered and have mature seeds.
What the seeds look like and how they can be harvested and dried. This shows the bluebell seeds.
In addition, we focus on the anatomy of the flowers, when the different plants bloom and set seeds, how they spread the seeds and which insects pollinate them.
Flekkgriseøre, Spotted cat's-ear Hypochaeris maculata from bud to flower head with mature seeds.
The seeds of Hypochaeris maculata
Here are ragged-robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi, which grows in moist meadows.
The seeds of ragged-robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi
The book also tells about the most common forms of seed dispersal. For example with wind
Or with animals
The book presents about 50 different wildflowers that grow in native haymeadows and that play an important role for all the insects that pollinate them. Many of the wildflowers we describe are found throughout the country. In addition, we have included lists of supplementary species for each region.
We also give an introduction to the various traditional cultural fields and our most important pollinator groups, and why this diversity is now threatened and what we can do to maintain it.
The seed book has been created by us at NIBIO, through a collaboration between nine researchers and engineers at various departments and divisions. The Department of Cultural Landscape and Biodiversity has led the work.
The seed book is supported by Sparebankstiftelsen, the Norwegian Directorate of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. And it`s published by Fagbokforlaget
