Download - USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Development & Use. Service Areas of the Plant Materials Centers
Development of a Plant Materials Release
Field collection occurs throughout the
a PMC Service Area.
Timely germplasm releases for general conservation and restoration use for a limited
geographic area
Cultivar development for specific uses, such as wildlife habitat, forage or soil bioengineering,
adapted to a wide geographic area
Deciding when to Develop a Plant Species for Release
• What is the demand for Plant Material development and releases?– Agriculture– Conservation/Water Quality/Farm Bill– Urban Brownfields– Critical Wildlife Habitat– Recreation– Disturbed Lands-Natural/Man made
Trends in the Origin of Plant Materials Releases
Total Releases - 508
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Num
ber
of R
elea
ses
Native
Introduced
Plant Development = New Plant ReleasesG
enet
ic D
iver
sity
of t
he
Ger
mp
lasm
Predictable and Inheritable Characteristics
Source-Identified
Cultivar
Tested
Selected
Nationally, Commercial value of the Plant Materials Program Products - 2002
• Vegetative Production- $ 17,000,000
• Seed Production - $ 80,000,000
• Total- $ 97,000,000
Local Ecotype Releases Available (Mid-Atlantic)
• Suther Remnant Prairie (NC)
• Monarch germplasm seaside goldenrod
• High-tide switchgrass (Upper Chesapeake Bay)
• Seacoast bluestem (Mid-Atlantic collections)
Pending Releases (within 2 years)
• Prairie cordgrass (Big Flats)
• Giant cordgrass (Cape May)
• Eastern gamagrass (Big Flats)
• Beaked panicum (Beltsville)
• Indiangrass (Big Flats/Beltsville)
• Virginia wildrye (Beltsville)
• Grass-leaved aster (Beltsville)
Danthonia spicatapoverty oatgrass
Deschampsia flexuosacrinkled hairgrass
Cinna arundinaceastout woodreed
Interface with the commercial seed and nursery industries to develop and release plant material
for commercial availability
Why Grow Conservation Plants?
• Diversification: An alternative to corn-soybeans-vegetables. Some species may provide off-season income.
• New Markets: Plants for soil bioengineering, biofuels, agroforestry (windbreaks/buffers) and water quality applications.
• Foundation Plants/Production Guidelines provided by the Plant Materials Center/Specialist.
• Technical Support/Marketing Assistance provided by the Plant Materials Program through fact sheets, brochures, plant source directories.
• Assisting limited resource farmers/underrepresented customers (i.e. Native American tribes)
Printed MaterialsPlant Materials Program Web Site Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov
With links to:
PLANTS Database
PLANTS Species Profiles
Information:
Publications
Fact Sheets
Plant Releases
Plant Materials Centers
Program Products
Printed
Materials Presentations /
Training Sessions / Site
Visits
Conservation Plant
Releases
Other Major Projects
• Root physiology study (with ARS-Penn State & Beckley, WV)
• Carbon Sequestration (with ARS-Penn State)• Herbicide Study-Establishment of native warm
season grasses• Dormant seeding of native warm season grasses• Interseeding cover crops at corn planting (Big
Flats-SARE grant)• Eastern Gamagrass Yield with Interseeded
Legumes
NRCS/ARS Root Physiology StudyWarm Season Grass Screening for Riparian
Buffer Applications
– Compare NRCS warm season grass cultivars to determine root type and ability to grow into saturated soils. (drained vs wet bath treatment)
– Various cultivars of each species used: Switchgrass, Big bluestem, Little bluestem, Indiangrass, Eastern gamagrass, Prairie cordgrass. (27 entries)
OBSERVATIONS
– The rooting depth of the grasses was directly proportional to the top growth. (3 month growing season in the greenhouse; loam soil)
– Both Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) cultivars and ‘Red River’ Prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) extended roots to the bottom of the tubes in both the dry and saturated treatments.
OBSERVATIONS
– Most switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) cultivars consistently rooted into the capillary fringe above the saturated zone.
– Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) and Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) rooting depths were highly variable by cultivar however none penetrated the saturated zone.
Field Planting (Spring 2004)
• Species will be outplanted to field plots:– Wye Research Ctr., Maryland– Klingerstown, PA– Big Flats, NY
*Roots will be studied in-situ by ARS using a root probe in 2006
Carbon Sequestration: Conversion of Cool Season Grass Stands into Native Warm Season
Grass Systems
Implications for Carbon Sequestration
What do we know?
• Cool season grasses are shallow rooted. Long term stands have developed shallow C-pools.
• Warm season grasses are deeper rooted than cool season grasses. (deeper C-pool)
• Success of no-till drilling warm season grasses into killed cool season stands has been highly variable.
The BIG Question is…..
• Will converting long-term cool season grass systems into warm season grass systems increase or decrease the total carbon pool?
Soil Carbon Content: 0 to 2 inch depth (.05 within instrument variability.)
Grass Current 2003
(% C)
Change since
1999 (% C)
Big Bluestem 1.39 0.11
Coastal Panicgrass 1.51 0.05
Switchgrass 1.99 -0.36
Little bluestem/
Indiangrass
2.26 0.19
Eastern
Gamagrass
1.56 0.20
****
• Deeper samples to one meter.
• Sample analyses has not been finalized.
• Anticipated that C will increase.
WSG Dormant Seeding
• Seeding of switchgrass and coastal panicgrass at Cape May in mid-December, mid-March, and mid-June resulted in similar stands after two growing seasons.
• Two years of trials at Big Flats using switchgrass, big bluestem, little bluestem, & indiangrass resulted in early spring (March) seedings having highest seedling density
Cover Crop Establishment at Corn Planting
• Evaluate herbicides for compatibility to corn and cover crops
• To determine which cover crop species can be successfully established under corn
• To determine if intended benefits of cover can be maintained.
• Effects of cover crops on corn yield
Conservation Trials/Field Plantings
• Interspecies plantings on sand dunes to promote plant diversity
• Interspecies plantings on tidal fresh shorelines (willow, switchgrass, prairie cordgrass, coastal panicgrass, eastern gamagrass)
• Living snow fences (shrub willow and dogwood)• Windbreaks around poultry houses for odor/dust
control• Direct seeding of shrubs on mined lands
Written Products Pending
• Critical Area Planting Booklet for NE• Pocket field guide for evaluating native grass
stands• Revise-Stabilization of Sand Dunes in Mid-
Atlantic/Southern New England booklet• Soil Bioengineering-Plant Materials selection/use
guide book• Website factsheets/plant guides development
Other Issues
• Dredge material –vegetation establishment• Soil Compaction/Soil Quality• Plant Applications-Stormwater Management BMP’s• Riparian buffer/filter strip plantings (species/arrangement)• Coastal bluffs-Soil Bioengineering approach• Innovative applications of native plants to suppress
invasive species spread • Brownfields/phytoremediation• Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV)
Presentations / Training Sessions / Site Visits
• For individual land owners, schools, specialized groups, and interagency
What is the VALUE of thePlant Materials Program
• The ability to develop plant materials to meet the ever-changing environmental and landowner demands.
• Established Plant Materials Centers to accommodate regional plant needs
• Unique nationwide network of PMC’s/PMS’s to address all geographic/climatic variables
• 65 years of experience and plant material specialists’ expertise
• Alternative enterprise for commercial growers and end-users who are unable, individually, to test and monitor plant materials