Important Pinecones
A researcher from Morgantown, West Virginia recently visited our park to collect pinecones for an important project. Below explains what he was doing and the importance of the research.
His initial message:
Greetings Folks. I’m a researcher from Morgantown, West Virginia. I’ve been working with the University of Vermont researchers, and The Nature Conservancy’s Appalachian Program, on climate change adaptation/resiliency, as well as assisted migration, for many years. Please see this linked paper in Applications in Plant Sciences, regarding our work, https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aps3.11600. Or this article at Phys.org, https://phys.org/news/2024-06-sourcing-genomically-diverse-seedlings-climate.html#google_vignette.
To support this research, as well as to provide materials for Red Spruce Ecosystem restoration efforts, we have identified seed sources from across Spruce’s range, where we have collected, or would like to collect, seed. Some locations are based on dna data available for that location and all have been researched to ascertain natural, not reforested, or planted spruce nearby. This is a problem because so much reforestation, and research, has taken place throughout Appalachia over the years, with seed sources unknown. We have collected and inventoried seed from most of these locations on the map (below), a few are still on the wish list, including at Holbrook Island.
Having a broad selection of seed sources available allows us to grow seedlings using the most appropriate seed sources (based on climate adaptation) for any given project location and to maximize the available genetic diversity of the planting stock to provide the greatest resiliency to climate change possible. Researchers at the University of Vermont, University of Maryland, at The Nature Conservancy, and elsewhere have been studying this for many years. Because the climate is changing faster than species can adapt and migrate, we can anticipate and assist in diversifying the genetics of spruce forests to be resilient to the climate of the future. Many thanks to UVM’s Steve Keller and Tony D’Amato, and TNC’s Katy Shallows for their expertise and experience in guiding this work. We have established 2 collaborations, one in West Virginia called the Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI). CASRI partners have planted nearly 3 million red spruce in the past 20+ years. And SASRI in the southern Appalachians, is active in genetic research and restoration. Because of these collaboratives’ nature, we’re able to take the latest research in genomics, and climate change resiliency, and put it into practice.
The map below shows the locations for our seed collection efforts. We collect cones off the ground only, with a goal of collecting 2 bushels of cones from each location. The collection would take place sometime in mid-September to early October. It is an ambitious endeavor, spruce get cones only every 4-8 years. I only suspect/hope that there is a cone crop on the spruce at Holbrook Island this year as I have not been there to confirm this.
Thanks for any help. dave
The following is Dave’s Report.
Greetings folks! Just a quick report on my cone collecting visit to Holbrook Preserve. I spent two days, Thursday and Friday, 10/16&17, at Holbrook. Things got off to a slow start. I hiked the Summit Loop trail, to get a feel for the forest and lay-of-the-land, saw many spruce trees, but didn’t see much in the way of cones. But enjoyed so, so, much the beautiful forest and views. But, as is usually the case, perseverance pays off, and I kept covering territory, always with an eye to the sky (following the tallest, most mature spruce trees) and pretty soon I was able to find cones to collect. I got about 1.5 bushels all together, which, assuming they have seed in them, will be enough for our collection. Actually, I cut tested several, and they look fine. It must have been very dry up there. The cones, usually still tightly closed, while laying on the ground, had dried out and begun to open up.
The cones are racked up, and will dry until February, when they will be further kiln-dried, and tumbled, to extract the seeds. De-winged, scalped, screened, then winnowed to remove the wings, and debris. The final step is a specialized air column device that extracts the hollow, or empty, seeds through a modified winnowing procedure. We like to purify the germination to around 90%. The seed will be tested by the USDA, dried to around 8% moisture and frozen in a special seed bank freezer, along with seeds from ~~30 other locations across red spruce’s range. As needed for research, or restoration purposes, we will put it into production. Otherwise it will keep indefinitely. I’m grateful for your support and help in procuring permission to make this collection. This completes or collection with regards to spruce ecosystem types; Montane, Lowland, and Coastal, making it much more valuable for research purposes. We didn’t have a coastal source prior to this. Holbrook is an ideal place to collect red spruce cones. I enjoyed my short visit. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you! dave
