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 updates the first attempt (Powter et al., 2017) to inventory native grass seed mixes required or recommended for use in Alberta and those that are commercially available. The inventory was developed primarily through web-based searches and reaching out to researchers and land managers.
The report focuses on native species 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, park, 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.
While the majority of seed mixes in the inventory are sourced from materials produced since 2010, there are mixes dating back as far as 1977 to provide some perspective and insights into the extent of progress in seed mix design.
Some of the commercial mixes reported here are marketed for both large-scale projects and smaller projects such as homes or acreages – readers should check with the vendor to determine availability and volumes.
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. Two municipalities (City of Airdrie (2014), 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., Rural Municipalities of Alberta[1] and Alberta Urban Municipalities Association[2]) 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.
- Seed mixes evolve over time (e.g., Jasper National Park historical vs. current mixes) and may move from the R&D stage to operational (e.g., AITF oil sands tailings stabilization mix -> Suncor erosion control mix), recommended or required mixes over time.
OPPORTUNITY: Track and report on changes over time to the content and use (classification) of 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 or the AEP loam to silty soils native seed mix for Northern Fescue Grasslands in this inventory).
OPPORTUNITY: Publish suitable alternate species for those currently in the Required Seed Mixes (see, for example, Pickseed (nd) or Native Plant Working Group (2000)).
- Over the past 20 years InnoTech Alberta has registered 22 native seed varieties for use in Alberta representing 17 species but there were 100 species in Required Seed Mixes alone and 132 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 in wetland mitigation and compensation, pit lake and wetland reclamation in pits and mines, and urban stormwater pond reclamation, only 27 seed mixes were identified for use in wet soils, wet areas or wetlands, and only 8 mixes contained Carex spp.
OPPORTUNITY: Develop and publish recommended seed mixes for wetland mitigation and compensation projects.
- Although understory species in forested environments are key components of a functioning ecosystem there were only 14 seed mixes for the Boreal forest.
OPPORTUNITY: Develop and publish recommended seed mixes for use in Boreal forest revegetation projects.
- There is a developing interest in pollinator mixes for urban naturalization projects. Four mixes in the inventory were designed for pollinators.
OPPORTUNITY: Develop and field test pollinator mixes for a variety of ecological settings, reclamation and urban naturalization projects in Alberta.
- Most of the seed mixes in this report focus on development of target communities. In addition to the pollinator mixes described above, there are opportunities to design fit-for-purpose seed mixes to target specific use objectives (e.g., wildlife, traditional use, fire resistance, green roofs, etc.). Some examples of these mixes are found in the report.
OPPORTUNITY: Seek out additional examples of fit-for-purpose seed mixes and include them in the next iteration of the Inventory.
- 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[3] 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.). The latter is particularly noteworthy given the extensive literature recommending use of PLS/m2 as the best method to ensure the appropriate seeding rates for individual species in a mix.
OPPORTUNITY: Develop a standard format for seed mix descriptions and require its use in project bid packages and regulatory documents.
OPPORTUNITY: Update all Required, Recommended and Commercial seed mixes to reflect currently accepted species names.
- The vast number of seed mixes identified to date was not predicted when this project started, in part because there is not enough publicity around the requirements for, and use of, native species seed mixes in revegetation projects.
OPPORTUNITY: Create an information portal to provide current information on native species seed mixes (and native species in general) and an opportunity for practitioners, industry and regulators to share knowledge and raise issues. The portal can build on, and link to, existing information sources such as InnoTech Alberta, NAIT Centre for Boreal Research, the Alberta Native Plant Council, and the Foothills Restoration Forum.