The global push to achieve ecosystem restoration targets has resulted in an increased demand for native seeds that current production systems are not able to fulfill. In many countries, seeds used in ecological restoration are often sourced from natural populations. Though providing seed that is reflective of the genetic diversity of a species, wild harvesting often cannot meet the demands for large-scale restoration and may also result in depletion of native seed resources through over harvesting. To improve seed production and decrease seed costs, seed production systems have been established in several countries to generate native seeds based on agricultural or horticultural production methods or by managing natural populations. However, there is a need to expand these production systems which have a primary focus on herbaceous species to also include slower maturing shrub and tree seed. Here we propose that to reduce the threat of overharvest on the viability of natural populations, seed collection from natural populations should be replaced or supplemented by seed production systems. This overview of seed production systems demonstrates how to maximize production and minimize unintended selection bias so that native seed batches maintain genetic diversity and adaptability to underpin the success of ecological restoration programs.

中文翻译：

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收集和生产用于生态修复的本地种子

实现生态系统恢复目标的全球推动导致对本地种子的需求增加，而当前的生产系统无法满足这些需求。在许多国家，用于生态修复的种子往往来自自然种群。虽然提供的种子反映了一个物种的遗传多样性，但野生采伐往往不能满足大规模恢复的需求，还可能因过度采伐而导致本地种子资源枯竭。为了提高种子产量并降低种子成本，一些国家建立了种子生产系统，以基于农业或园艺生产方法或通过管理自然种群来生产本地种子。然而，有必要扩大这些主要关注草本物种的生产系统，以包括较慢成熟的灌木和乔木种子。在这里，我们建议为了减少过度收获对自然种群生存能力的威胁，自然种群的种子收集应由种子生产系统取代或补充。这份种子生产系统概述展示了如何最大限度地提高产量并最大限度地减少意外选择偏差，从而使本地种子批次保持遗传多样性和适应性，以支持生态恢复计划的成功。