After the catastrophic wildfires, floods, and droughts in recent years across the United States, landscape restoration efforts are becoming more important than ever. In this article data journalist Kaitlyn Radde, reports how native seeds and habitats must play a central role in this endeavor, but in a new report experts warn that the US is experiencing seed shortages. Native seed banks and ecologists are fighting the clock to save native seeds given the dual threats of biodiversity loss and habitat destruction. Seed diversity and supply issues are high barriers for land restoration efforts, according to both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Native seeds are a powerful resource because they are locally adapted and more suited to specific biomes, making them more resilient and beneficial to local fauna. There is also a pressing necessity to keep expanding the storage capacity, expertise, and genetic diversity of the seed bank to meet the growing challenges of climate change.
