Got to Clean ’em All

As the Pokémon fans and SOS participants will tell you, “Got to clean ‘em all.” Cleaning seeds is important for storage, future use in restoration, and for qualitative/quantitative assessment. Nearly all the Seeds of Success (SOS) collections are sent to the Seed Extractory in Bend, Oregon for seed cleaning, but in Alaska we have a local facility for that. The Plant Materials Center (PMC) is primarily focused on agricultural research and services, but also partners with agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for ecological projects. The PMC not only cleans SOS seeds, but also propagates plants from those seeds to determine the viability of cultivating these plants for even greater seed yields. The ultimate purpose of these efforts is for restoration projects on BLM lands for campgrounds, road ways, trail systems, and mining sites. As Conservation Land Management (CLM) interns, Samantha Snodgrass and I take part in this good, clean fun. The strategies for cleaning seeds varies by species and includes both hand and mechanical means. The stars of the show are brush machines, air machines, pans, and tumblers. We use the tools that fit the task in order to reduce loss and damage to the seed while of course maximizing the cleanliness. We then could examine the seed under the microscope to determine how healthy the seed appeared and anticipate their viability. While there, we primarily cleaned seeds in the Poaceae and Fabaceae families. Lubo Mahlev served as our guru guide in this science (and art) form and we even got to join forces with a former CLMer Jenn MacMillan. In addition to cleaning seed, we also harvested some of the last seed from the PMC fields with handy sickles. It was incredible to experience these facilities (that includes a seed library!) and interact with the welcoming, knowledgeable staff.