The Government of Alberta has long been a strong proponent of the use of native species for land reclamation and restoration projects. In 1973 the Department of Agriculture began an evaluation of native species suitable for reclamation of industrially disturbed lands (Vaartnou and Wheeler, 1975). That work eventually led to the creation of the Native Species Research Program at the Alberta Environmental Centre (now InnoTech Alberta) in the late 1970s.
InnoTech Alberta sponsored two workshops in November 2016 to gather stakeholder input for the Business Case to redesign the Native Species Research Program (Small et al., 2016a). One of the recommendations from the Workshops was to:
Develop and maintain a list of existing prescribed native plant seed mixes to help growers identify opportunities and to drive work to provide improved mixes.
This report is a first attempt to inventory native species seed mixes required or recommended for use in Alberta and those that are commercially available. The inventory was developed primarily through web-based searches; as a result there are likely additional resources that were missed.
The report focuses on native grass seed mixes for use in revegetation projects (reclamation, restoration, naturalization and remediation) undertaken for or by government or industry. Mixes labeled agronomic, forage, tame forage, hay, pasture, lawn, turf, etc. are not included in this report. However, some of the mixes contain agronomic species – these may be present to provide a nurse/cover crop that will allow the native species to establish, or they may be present because the mix represents a transition to a fully native mix. Commercial wildflower seed mixes are also not included in this document.
The following opportunities for the native plants community, government agencies and researchers arise based on the inventory of mixes and seed sources found to date.
- A number of Required Mixes are currently in place which should be a driver for the development and use of native species seed. However the requirements must be enforced to be effective.
OPPORTUNITY: Canvass agencies with Required Seed Mixes and the project proponents who must follow the requirements to determine the level of compliance with the Required Seed Mixes and identify barriers to successful compliance.
OPPORTUNITY: Once barriers have been identified, devise a follow-up action plan to increase compliance.
- Some municipalities require use of native seed mixes where the revegetation goal is naturalization. Three municipalities (City of Airdrie (2014), City of Calgary (Etwell, pers. comm), and City of Chestermere (2015)) were found to require native seed mixes but leave it to the project proponent to propose a seed mix for approval.
OPPORTUNITY: Obtain information on approved seed mixes to be added to this inventory.
OPPORTUNITY: Work with municipal associations (e.g., Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties and Alberta Urban Municipalities Association) or individual municipalities to increase awareness of the benefits of naturalization and native seed mixes with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of municipalities with Required Seed Mixes.
- Specifying seed mix requirements in project tender specifications and/or project proposals can be problematic if the species or varieties or adequate volumes are not available.
OPPORTUNITY: Specify alternate species or varieties that will meet the same ecological needs but are more likely to be available (see for example the EnCana CFB Suffield mixes in this inventory).
OPPORTUNITY: Publish suitable alternate species for those currently in the Required Seed Mixes.
- InnoTech Alberta currently has 22 registered native seed varieties in Alberta representing 17 species but there were 38 species in Required Seed Mixes alone and 48 species in the Required Seed Mixes and Recommended Seed Mixes combined.
OPPORTINITY: Continue to develop registered native species seed varieties to allow demand for seed in Required Seed Mixes to be fulfilled and to enable the Recommended Seed Mixes to shift to required (with appropriate proof of performance).
- Even though there is strong interest wetland mitigation and compensation only 19 seed mixes were identified for use in wet soils, wet areas or wetlands.
OPPORTUNITY: Develop and publish recommended seed mixes for wetland mitigation and compensation projects.
- There are at least two commercial strategies that growers and vendors can adopt: target those species that have the highest demand and volume; and/or, target the low volume species in mixes that often are the key to increasing diversity and ultimate achievement of target ecosystems.
OPPORTUNITY: Continue to produce and update the Alberta Native Plant Council’s inventory of native seed producers with an increased emphasis on relating the inventory to, at least, the Required Seed Mixes (and ideally the Recommended Seed Mixes).
OPPORTUNITY: Vendors should increase efforts to relate their available seed or seed mix products to the Required Seed Mix list (and ideally the Recommended Seed Mixes).
- One of the difficulties in preparing this inventory was the different nomenclature (e.g., common name(s), old scientific name, new scientific name) and seed mix description formats (simple lists, wt %, PLS%, PLS/m2, etc.).
OPPORTUNITY: Develop a standard format for seed mix descriptions and require its use in project bid packages and regulatory documents.