By Adam Russell
The statewide search for seeds from native Texas grasses and forbs is expected to expand to East Texas in 2018, according to Texas A&M researchers.
Forrest Smith, the Dan L. Duncan Endowed director of the Texas Native Seeds project for the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, said the interest in re-establishment of native grasses and forbs is growing, and research initiatives are expanding.
“The vision (of Texas Native Seeds) is to find and collect important native plant species and increase them to meet demand for restoration,” he said.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has provided staff expertise, in-kind access to facilities, field space and equipment at Texas A&M Research and Extension Centers in Corpus Christi and Stephenville in support of that mission.
AgriLife Research scientists have been close cooperators on several restoration methodology projects as the native seed project began its statewide expansion in 2010. Texas A&M’s Texas Foundation Seed Service, meanwhile, certifies and licenses the project’s native seeds to make them available to the public.
Smith said the project started in 2000 in South Texas after private landowners with major holdings approached the institute looking for ways to re-establish native grasses and forbs, restoring regional ecosystems that support native wildlife.
Researchers are seeking to increase a diverse seed mix of native species to provide to seed companies for production, Smith said. The native seeds would be for commercial production to keep up with demand. They would be maintained in a species database available for future research.
Seeds are collected from specific locations, and information, such as soil type and adjacent species, are recorded, Smith said. Researchers collected around 1,200 native plant species in
West Texas and around 750 species in Central Texas in the past few years, on top of over 2,000 seed collections made since 2001 in South Texas.
Similar efforts in other parts of the state will be undertaken in 2018, he said.
The native plants are being grown and evaluated for specific traits including survivability, germination, aesthetics and seed production, Smith said. Seed mixes and individual seed varieties will be certified and released through Texas Foundation Seed Service once the evaluation process is complete.
Smith said seeds from the various regions of Texas are being sought because species’ traits can differ in such a large and ecologically diverse state.
For instance, little bluestem, a prolific warm-season perennial grass, grows from Canada to Mexico, Smith said. Seeds from this species in Canada differ greatly from those found in Texas, because the plants’ internal schedules, such as seeding, differ.
A Texas little bluestem may produce seed later in the year because of warmer environmental conditions, he said. Texas little bluestem would face low survivability if its seeds faced earlier wintry weather in Canada.
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