Completion Form

2023

he aim of the FY2023 project was to initiate seed bank studies for Utah's five threatened and endangered cactus species to quantify important life history characteristics that will inform conservation and trend monitoring. FY2023 tasks were: 0) coordination of inter-agency seed collections; 1) seed packet installations in fall 2022; 2) Year 1 seed packet retrievals; and 3) seed viability testing and additional seed collections. All tasks were completed as proposed with any deviations noted in the sections below. 
Task 0. Coordination of inter-agency seed collections. Seed collections for Sclerocactus brevispinus and S. wetlandicus occurred in June 2022 as part of other mitigation and range-wide monitoring activities, with a total of 191 and 208 seeds collected, respectively. Seed collections for Sclerocactus wrightiae were completed by Capitol Reef National Park biologists in June 2022, with a total of 183 seeds collected. Seed collections for S. wrightiae and Pediocactus despainii in the BLM Price Field Office did not occur in 2022 due to resource limitations.
Task 1. Seed Packet Installations. In fall 2022, the seeds were sorted into lots of 100 seeds per species for seed viability testing, and remaining seeds were packaged for burial at one or more seed bank study sites. Seed packet installations were completed on November 16 at the Gypsum Sink Hole and Jailhouse Rock S. wrightiae seed bank study sites in Capitol Reef National Park, and on November 17, 2022 at the Pariette East S. brevispinus and King's Canyon S. wetlandicus seed bank study sites in the Uinta Basin BLM Vernal Field Office. 
Task 2. Year 1 Seed Packet Retrievals. We revisited the Jailhouse Rock S. wrightiae seed bank study site on May 4, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park. We excavated the seven S. wrightiae seed packets containing a total of 63 seeds to examine them for seed condition, germination, and mortality. We also excavated ten seed packets at Kings Canyon on May 18, 2023, and nine seed packets at Pariette East on June 6, 2023. Because there was little or no sign of seed deterioration or germination at any of the study sites, we reburied all seed packets to reserve seeds for later collections. The next proposed retrieval of one or more seed packets will be in late October or early November 2023. 
Task 3. Seed Viability Assessments/2023 Seed Collections. In early fall 2022, we submitted 100 seeds for each species to Susan Meyer, USDA Shrub Lab, Provo, Utah for seed viability testing. Seed viability testing was completed in spring 2023. Because seed viability testing was performed on an in-kind basis, we used remaining resources to complete additional seed collections in June 2023.

A seed bank study for Utah's five threatened and endangered cactus species (Pediocactus despainii, P. winkleri, Sclerocactus brevispinus, S. wetlandicus, and S. wrightiae) was implemented in June 2022. The purpose of the project is to quantify the viability and longevity of cactus seeds and thereby assess the demographic role of the seed bank in population trend and behavior. Project activities in FY2023 comprised pre-FY2023 seed collections performed under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Permit Number ES41329C and by Capitol Reef National Park field biologists in early summer 2022, submittal of seeds to the USDA Shrub Lab for viability testing, installation of seeds packaged in nylon packets in fall 2022, and excavating seed packets to assess seed condition, mortality, and germination in spring 2023. Manzanita Botanical collected 1596 Sclerocactus seeds in the Uinta Basin in June 2022 and Capitol Reef National Park biologists collected 348 Pediocactus and Sclerocactus seeds in the park in July 2023. All project activities were performed under the Utah BLM State Office USFWS Permit Number TE165829-3 and Manzanita Botanical Consulting's research permits: USFWS Permit Number ES41329C and USDOI NPS Permit Number CARE-2022-SCI-0019. 
Task 0. Pre-project coordination of inter-agency seed collections. All pre-FY2023 seed collections were completed as in-kind contributions to the project. In June 2022, 191 seeds were collected from 22 Sclerocactus brevispinus individuals: 139 seeds from 16 individuals at the Pariette East range wide monitoring site, and 52 seeds from six individuals at the West Pariette range wide monitoring site. In June 2022, 208 seeds were collected from 16 S. wetlandicus individuals: 110 seeds from seven individuals at the Gasco North range wide monitoring site, and 98 seeds from nine individuals at the Wrinkles Road mitigation control site. Seed collections were limited due to late fruit maturation in 2022. 
In June 2022, 183 seeds were collected from nine S. wetlandicus individuals: 113 seeds from five individuals at Ackland Spring, and 70 seeds from four individuals at Gypsum Sinkhole in Capitol Reef National Park. All collected seeds were transported to Manzanita Botanical Consulting and refrigerated until they were packaged for either viability testing or burial.
Task 1. Seed packet installations. In fall 2022, the seeds were sorted into lots of approximately 10 seeds easch and packaged in sealed polyester nylon mesh packets for burial at the seed bank study sites. Seed packet installations were completed on November 16 at the Gypsum Sinkhole and Jailhouse Rock S. wrightiae seed bank study sites in Capitol Reef National Park, and on November 17, 2022 at the Pariette East S. brevispinus and King's Canyon S. wetlandicus seed bank study sites in the Uinta Basin BLM Vernal Field Office. The seed bank study plots comprise an approximately 0.5-meter rectangular trough roughly 1-2 inches deep. The seed packets were arranged within the trough and mapped to document packet position by seed source. At Pariette East, we installed nine seed packets containing a total of 83 S. brevispinus seeds. At Kings Canyon, we installed ten seed packets containing a total of 104 S. wetlandicus seeds. At Gypsum Sinkhole, we installed two seed packets containing just 20 S. wrightiae seeds, and at Jailhouse Rock, we installed seven seed packets containing 63 S. wrightiae seeds. The seed bank study in Capitol Reef National Park is being performed under National Park Service Permit# CARE-2022-SCI-0019.
Task 2. Year 1 Seed Packet Retrievals. On May 4, 2023, Manzanita Botanical revisited the Jailhouse Rock S. wrightiae seed bank study site. The seven seed packets containing 63 S. wrightiae seeds were excavated and examined to determine seed condition and any signs of mortality or germination. All 63 seeds were dark and hard, indicating no change to seed condition, and the seed packets were reburied. Early season flooding prevented access to the Gypsum Sinkhole study site and the seed packets at this site will both be collected in fall 2024 to minimize travel between study sites. On May 18, 2023, we revisited the Kings Canyon S. wetlandicus seed bank study site and excavated the ten seed packets contained 104 seeds for examination. All of the seeds were dark and hard and were reburied. On June 6, 2023, we revisited the Pariette East S. brevispinus seed bank study site and excavated the nine seed packets containing 83 seeds for examination. One seed was missing and was assumed dead and decayed. The remaining 98.8% of seeds were dark and hard, and were reburied. 
Task 3. Seed Viability Assessments/2023 Seed Collections. One hundred seeds for each species were submitted to the USDA Shrub Lab in Provo, Utah for viability testing in fall 2023. Average seed viability across all three Sclerocactus species was 95.0 percent. Seed viability for S. brevispinus was 95.0%, for S. wetlandicus was 93.0%, and for S. wrightiae was 96.9% (95.6% at Gypsum Sinkhole and 98.1% at Ackland Spring). Summer 2023 seed collections were performed by Manzanita Botanical in the Uinta Basin and by Capitol Reef National Park biologists. On June 6, 2023, we collected 86 seeds from eight S. brevispinus at Pariette East. Seed collections for this species were limited due to late fruit set. From June 8 to June 23, 2023, we collected 1,510 seeds from 49 S. wetlandicus across the species' range. On July 7, 2023, park biologists collected 93 seeds from six S. wrightiae in the Hartnet district, and on July 12, 2023, they collected 155 seeds from 11 P. winkleri in the Lower South Desert. Overall, it was a spectacular, though delayed, fruiting year for Sclerocactus in the Uinta Basin.

All of the tasks performed in FY2023 will be continued, all or in part, for a minimum of three years (through FY2025) and up to five years (FY2027). The 1,944 cactus seeds collected in 2023 have been catalogued and are in cold storage at Manzanita Botanical. At least 100 seeds of each species will be tested for viability. The remaining seeds for P. winkleri, and S. brevispinus and S. wrightiae will be sorted and packaged into nylon seed packets for installation at the seed bank study sites in late October or early November 2023. The S. wetlandicus seeds will be sorted and packaged as well, but because we collected more seed than needed for the seed bank study, any surplus seeds will be submitted to the ARS Plant Germplasm Preservation Research facility in Fort Collins, Colorado for long-term cryo-storage. We expect to package and bury approximately 800 S. wetlandicus seeds (80 seed packets) across three seed bank study sites in the Uinta Basin in fall 2023. Ideally, we will install sufficient numbers of seed packets for each species to allow collection of at least 100 seeds (ten seed packets) per collection event. We need to install approximately 700 more seeds (70 seed packets) for each species to allow us to collect 100 seeds per species in both spring and fall through 2027. We will remove a small set of seed packets in spring 2024, but will leave most seed packets in place to extend the study timeline. To date, all results suggest that these species possess at least a short-lived seed bank. Nearly 100% of the seeds installed in November 2022 appeared to remain viable as of spring 2023. Further, the high seed viability results from spring 2023 further underline the likelihood of long-lived seeds. Future seed packet excavations and seed viability testing will be used to develop a seed longevity model that can be used to estimate the size and longevity of seed banks for these species.

Janice Hornbeck

09/06/2023 21:02:41