Living seedbanks to secure seed supply
Living seedbanks to secure seed supply
Working with Landcare groups to establish plantings that can supply difficult to source endemic seed to nurseries into the future.
Capacity to Deliver -
LEP23 - 014_LLC03-1
The issue
Collecting local provenance seed for nursery propagation can sometimes be a time-consuming and difficult task. Our district seedbank volunteers may need to navigate steep gullies, high canopies, wet-weather vehicle access, short seed maturation windows and/or declining numbers of parent trees.
These issues have become particularly prevalent now that we are incorporating fire-retardant tree species into our plantings as we are sourcing seed from rainforest communities. Rainforest species typically bring a whole new set of seed collecting complications including fruit that is prone to rotting, seed that matures in small consecutive batches, and other traits that also require collecting to be frequent and prompt.
The solution
To tackle the issue we are establishing three ‘living-seedbanks’. Each plot is a separate planting, each representing a particular vegetation community, and each plot has its own Landcare group assigned to its management and care.
The locations for each planting have been carefully chosen to ensure that there will be both ease of entry for the volunteers and long-term access (eg appropriate land tenure such as Crown Managed by Council). Our Bermagui Dunecare group has just established the first of our living-seedbank, with a littoral rainforest planting completed in May 2024. Interestingly, the location of this plot was able to seize on some favorable growing conditions created on the forest floor after a recent pittosporum dieback event (see photo).
As our Far South Coast Landcare Seedbank supplies all of the local wholesale nurseries with seed for propagation, we are acutely aware of the need to protect genetic diversity. To address this, we have sourced living-seedbank plants from different parent stock and intend to supplement seed collection with external/wild sources. Another benefit of the living-seedbanks will be their ability to guide us on when seeds are likely to be ripe and abundant in the wild, improving the timing of when we access the harder to reach "natural" locations.
The impact
Under these more controlled conditions and with regular monitoring by the volunteers we are building efficiencies into seed collection that ensure reliable seed supply into the future.
Key facts
- The living-seedbank sites will each replicate one of 3 vegetation communities (rainforest, coastal and wetland).
- Individual Landcare groups have volunteered to host separate sites. Their role will include planting, caring and harvesting from the living-seedbank.
- This project has enabled Landcare groups to recruit new volunteers and recharge morale.