Session

Land-use change has led to a decrease of plant species diversity on farmland. At present, commercial seed mixtures for ecological aims contain ecotypes from other geographic regions, cultivars of agricultural relevant species or non-native species because of low price and easy availability. In order to make seed mixtures with higher ecological value available in South Tyrol, the project Regional Seeds of Laimburg Research Centre started in 2023 with seed collection of ecotypes of native vascular plants in species-rich meadows. The aim of this ongoing project is the production of seeds for flower-rich stripes in field margins, embankments and crop interrow to enhance local biodiversity in orchards and vineyards. From a network of extensive meadows monitored by Eurac Research, three donor sites were chosen in 2023 and six in 2024. The plant communities consisted of more than 1000 individuals per species. In order not to endanger the plant population of the meadow, only 100 flower heads per species and just once in the two collection years were harvested. So far, 27 different species were collected with the main focus on Carum carvi, Knautia arvensis, Leucanthemum vulgare, Lotus corniculatus, Onobrychis montana, Plantago lanceolata, Salvia pratensis and Trifolium pratense. Species were chosen based on insect attractiveness, soil amelioration potential, easiness of propagation and moderate sale price using information from literature as a source. After manual harvest, the seeds or ripen inflorescences were dried with different methods depending on seed amount and moisture: drying cabinet, desiccator or at room temperature. After cleaning, the seeds were stored at 8°C with constant humidity. In early spring, seedlings were grown up in the greenhouse and were planted in a propagation field in Pfatten and in Eyrs. To represent the genetic range of South Tyrol, each propagated species corresponded to a mixture of all harvested provenances, in order to decrease the risk of negative effects of genetic drift and low genetic variability resulting in low adaptability to the environmental conditions of the target site. Depending on the species, 0.4 to 170 g of seeds per species were collected in the first year, yielding seed amounts being 526 times the collected seed.