SOS: an overview and its connection to landscape-scale

restoration research

Polyploidy: it’s everywhere (and it sucks)

Stephanie Frischie, Andrea Kramer, Stewart Sanderson, Troy Wood

Images provided by Megan Haidet, data by many collectors

Seeds of Success

• collect, conserve, and develop native plants for rehab and restoration – focus on common taxa

• comprehensive sampling of diversity– locally (95% stand. div. – 50 to 2000 plants)– range wide (among populations usu. > 10)

• >> 15,000 collections

SOS on the CP

• > 1300 collections, 5629 mean elevation• Multiple SOS Teams from SLC to Safford (AZ)

to Las Cruces

• 65 families:

SOS – Foundation for Research

Indian ricegrass seed zones

Matching plant traits to climate forecastsBlue grama garden/ploidy studies

Above: Top Ten Priority SpeciesBelow: Achnatherum hymenoides

N=45

N=9

Above: Cleome spp.Below: Mach. canescens

N=9

Note: SOS not designed to be a seed distributor seed nor to do project focused collections…but it is an excellent complementary resource.

Ploidy Variation + Restoration

Ophioglossum, 2n=1260

Boutleoua gracilisPloidy (genome copy #) Variation

2x=1734x=5286x=11

How common is ploidy variation?

• Surveyed chromosome counts of common restoration species

• Of 115 species 37.4% were ploidy variant

• Surprising equity between diploid:polyploid counts --- 1.25 – often no spatial segregation

Atriplex canescens (4-wing saltbush)

Does it matter; polypoidy adaptation?

• Series of cytotypes correlated with morphological variation

• Habitat preference/physiology ploidy = drought

toleranceHao et al. 2012

Atriplex canescens (4-wing saltbush)

Does it matter; polypoidy adaptation?

• Series of cytotypes correlated with morphological variation

• Habitat preference/physiology ploidy = drought

toleranceHao et al. 2012

MOST DATA PLOIDY RACES ARE ECOLOGICALLY EQUIVALENT

Summary

• Ploidy variation common within restoration species, including many CP forms

• Outstanding questions: Can it be simply ignored? How might it effect increase? How might it impact remant native stands?