Habitat restoration
Safe wild-seed harvest depends on generation time
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Across 280 species, annuals can spare only about 2% of seeds each year, while long-lived plants can lose far more without collapsing.
How this study connects
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Evidence for the claim as stated.
Across 280 species, annuals can spare only about 2% of seeds each year, while long-lived plants can lose far more without collapsing.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Computational / modelling — 30-year seed-harvest simulations with COMPADRE matrix population models
- N
- N=280 · 280 angiosperm species; 108 species used in some trait-predictor subsets
- Population
- Wild plant species with published matrix models
- Outcome
- Safe annual seed-harvest fractions average ~2% for annuals and rise with generation time; a 20% rule would drive annuals extinct
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Safe wild-seed harvest depends on generation time
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280 plant species from 5 continents
Here, using data from wild populations of 280 plant species from 5 continents, we found that the current seed harvesting guidelines were often ineffective.
US guidelines allow 20% annual harvest
For example, annual harvesting of 20% of the annual seed production, as currently recommended in the United States (Plant Conservation Alliance, ), would have a small effect on palms, trees, or some herbaceous perennials, but it would drive all annual plants to extinction within only a few decades.
Key findings
US 20% annual harvest would drive annuals extinct in decades but barely affect trees. Safe annual fractions averaged 2.3% for annuals/biennials, 10.1% at 5-year generation time, and 40.1% at 20 years. Harvesting annuals only every 10 years raised the safe fraction to 30.3%. Generation time explained over half of vulnerability.
Methodology
Authors simulated 30 years of seed harvest with COMPADRE matrix models for 280 angiosperms, tested US/Australian/German safe-seed rules, and predicted a generation-time-based harvest fraction.
Limitations
Models assume harvest from the same population every season for 30 years, which is uncommon. COMPADRE matrices are uneven globally, and real combine-harvest also removes biomass, not only seeds.
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