Going Native: Should Local Seed be Used in Prairie Restorations?

By Rhiannon de la Rosa

M.S. Student, Turfgrass Science • Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, U of A System Division of Agriculture

Master’s student Rhiannon de la Rosa discusses the beginnings of her research into the importance of seed sourcing, especially in Arkansan tallgrass prairies. Her focus is ensuring success in prairie restoration plantings by discerning the maximum distance if any, a source population and restoration population can be from each other before transplanted individuals begin to show negative effects. In this video, she gives an overview of her common garden study which will be the main determining factor for the importance of sourcing.