{"id":{"repo_id":"unr","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarwolf.unr.edu:11714/11878"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unr/oai:scholarwolf.unr.edu:11714/11878","repository":{"repo_id":"unr","name":"University of Nevada - Reno","base_url":"https://scholarwolf.unr.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A tale of two grasses: Seed production has small & potentially positive effects on seed & seedling traits of squirreltail grasses, but Thurber’s needlegrass resists farming","abstract":"Native seed is increasingly farmed to meet the growing demands of seed-basedrestoration. One concern is that farm environments are expected to alter wild collections, leading to phenotypic changes that may hinder establishment. Focusing on two native perennial grasses in the western United States, including three populations of Elymus sp., or squirreltail, and three populations of Achnatherum thurberianum, Thurber’s needle grass, we asked how one generation of farming affected plant traits. We focused on early life-stage phenotypic traits that are known to affect establishment and survival, including seed mass for both species, and emergence likelihood, emergence times, root allocation, and root characteristics for Elymus sp. Seed was harvested three times, with an original harvest from wildland populations and two harvests from plants grown from wild seed on a native seed farm. Seeds from all collections were weighed, and Elymus sp. seeds were planted in a greenhouse environment, monitored for emergence, and a subset were harvested at 10 days old. The other subset of Elymus plants were subjected to a drought treatment and harvested at 107 days old. Seeds and seedling traits of Elymus sp. changed after growing in an agricultural setting, but changes were small and generally in directions that could increase their probability of survival, including: increased seed mass, faster emergence times, larger total biomass, and changes in root structures. Cultivated seeds retained their size advantage in the drought treatment, although this difference was dampened relative to control plants. The only unfavorable change to Elymus sp. from agricultural increase was a lower emergence likelihood of seed in two of three populations, though the third population increased greatly in emergence likelihood after farming. In contrast, Achnatherum thurberianum, had reduced seed mass for farmed seed and poor seed production, despite growing large vegetative plants in the agricultural setting. This experiment suggests that while some native plant species may not be suitable for agronomic production and wild collecting for these species may be necessary, other native plant species can be grown in farmed settings without large or maladaptive shifts in seed and seedling phenotypes. The seed, seedling, and drought responses of farmed Elymus sp. indicate that some of these changes are population specific, and can even be adaptive, as farmed native seeds can use increased resources to invest in strategies that promote survival in resource-limited conditions.","abstract_html":"Native seed is increasingly farmed to meet the growing demands of seed-basedrestoration. One concern is that farm environments are expected to alter wild collections, leading to phenotypic changes that may hinder establishment. Focusing on two native perennial grasses in the western United States, including three populations of Elymus sp., or squirreltail, and three populations of Achnatherum thurberianum, Thurber’s needle grass, we asked how one generation of farming affected plant traits. We focused on early life-stage phenotypic traits that are known to affect establishment and survival, including seed mass for both species, and emergence likelihood, emergence times, root allocation, and root characteristics for Elymus sp. Seed was harvested three times, with an original harvest from wildland populations and two harvests from plants grown from wild seed on a native seed farm. Seeds from all collections were weighed, and Elymus sp. seeds were planted in a greenhouse environment, monitored for emergence, and a subset were harvested at 10 days old. The other subset of Elymus plants were subjected to a drought treatment and harvested at 107 days old. Seeds and seedling traits of Elymus sp. changed after growing in an agricultural setting, but changes were small and generally in directions that could increase their probability of survival, including: increased seed mass, faster emergence times, larger total biomass, and changes in root structures. Cultivated seeds retained their size advantage in the drought treatment, although this difference was dampened relative to control plants. The only unfavorable change to Elymus sp. from agricultural increase was a lower emergence likelihood of seed in two of three populations, though the third population increased greatly in emergence likelihood after farming. In contrast, Achnatherum thurberianum, had reduced seed mass for farmed seed and poor seed production, despite growing large vegetative plants in the agricultural setting. This experiment suggests that while some native plant species may not be suitable for agronomic production and wild collecting for these species may be necessary, other native plant species can be grown in farmed settings without large or maladaptive shifts in seed and seedling phenotypes. The seed, seedling, and drought responses of farmed Elymus sp. indicate that some of these changes are population specific, and can even be adaptive, as farmed native seeds can use increased resources to invest in strategies that promote survival in resource-limited conditions.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kim, Alisa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":"Master’s Degree","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Leger, Elizabeth"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Parchman, Thomas","Shriver, Robert"],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026","date_published":"2026","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:47:58Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en_US","English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarwolf.unr.edu/handle/11714/11878","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Leger, Elizabeth"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Parchman, Thomas","Shriver, Robert"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kim, Alisa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["01/01/2026"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2026-06-25T16:19:55Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-06-25T16:19:55Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2026"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master’s Degree"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://scholarwolf.unr.edu/handle/11714/11878"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Native seed is increasingly farmed to meet the growing demands of seed-basedrestoration. One concern is that farm environments are expected to alter wild collections, leading to phenotypic changes that may hinder establishment. Focusing on two native perennial grasses in the western United States, including three populations of Elymus sp., or squirreltail, and three populations of Achnatherum thurberianum, Thurber’s needle grass, we asked how one generation of farming affected plant traits. We focused on early life-stage phenotypic traits that are known to affect establishment and survival, including seed mass for both species, and emergence likelihood, emergence times, root allocation, and root characteristics for Elymus sp. Seed was harvested three times, with an original harvest from wildland populations and two harvests from plants grown from wild seed on a native seed farm. Seeds from all collections were weighed, and Elymus sp. seeds were planted in a greenhouse environment, monitored for emergence, and a subset were harvested at 10 days old. The other subset of Elymus plants were subjected to a drought treatment and harvested at 107 days old. Seeds and seedling traits of Elymus sp. changed after growing in an agricultural setting, but changes were small and generally in directions that could increase their probability of survival, including: increased seed mass, faster emergence times, larger total biomass, and changes in root structures. Cultivated seeds retained their size advantage in the drought treatment, although this difference was dampened relative to control plants. The only unfavorable change to Elymus sp. from agricultural increase was a lower emergence likelihood of seed in two of three populations, though the third population increased greatly in emergence likelihood after farming. In contrast, Achnatherum thurberianum, had reduced seed mass for farmed seed and poor seed production, despite growing large vegetative plants in the agricultural setting. This experiment suggests that while some native plant species may not be suitable for agronomic production and wild collecting for these species may be necessary, other native plant species can be grown in farmed settings without large or maladaptive shifts in seed and seedling phenotypes. The seed, seedling, and drought responses of farmed Elymus sp. indicate that some of these changes are population specific, and can even be adaptive, as farmed native seeds can use increased resources to invest in strategies that promote survival in resource-limited conditions."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["PDF"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A tale of two grasses: Seed production has small & potentially positive effects on seed & seedling traits of squirreltail grasses, but Thurber’s needlegrass resists farming"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Leger, Elizabeth"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Parchman, Thomas","Shriver, Robert"],"dc:creator":["Kim, Alisa"],"dc:date":["01/01/2026"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2026-06-25T16:19:55Z"],"dc:date.available":["2026-06-25T16:19:55Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2026"],"dc:description.abstract":["Native seed is increasingly farmed to meet the growing demands of seed-basedrestoration. One concern is that farm environments are expected to alter wild collections, leading to phenotypic changes that may hinder establishment. Focusing on two native perennial grasses in the western United States, including three populations of Elymus sp., or squirreltail, and three populations of Achnatherum thurberianum, Thurber’s needle grass, we asked how one generation of farming affected plant traits. We focused on early life-stage phenotypic traits that are known to affect establishment and survival, including seed mass for both species, and emergence likelihood, emergence times, root allocation, and root characteristics for Elymus sp. Seed was harvested three times, with an original harvest from wildland populations and two harvests from plants grown from wild seed on a native seed farm. Seeds from all collections were weighed, and Elymus sp. seeds were planted in a greenhouse environment, monitored for emergence, and a subset were harvested at 10 days old. The other subset of Elymus plants were subjected to a drought treatment and harvested at 107 days old. Seeds and seedling traits of Elymus sp. changed after growing in an agricultural setting, but changes were small and generally in directions that could increase their probability of survival, including: increased seed mass, faster emergence times, larger total biomass, and changes in root structures. Cultivated seeds retained their size advantage in the drought treatment, although this difference was dampened relative to control plants. The only unfavorable change to Elymus sp. from agricultural increase was a lower emergence likelihood of seed in two of three populations, though the third population increased greatly in emergence likelihood after farming. In contrast, Achnatherum thurberianum, had reduced seed mass for farmed seed and poor seed production, despite growing large vegetative plants in the agricultural setting. This experiment suggests that while some native plant species may not be suitable for agronomic production and wild collecting for these species may be necessary, other native plant species can be grown in farmed settings without large or maladaptive shifts in seed and seedling phenotypes. The seed, seedling, and drought responses of farmed Elymus sp. indicate that some of these changes are population specific, and can even be adaptive, as farmed native seeds can use increased resources to invest in strategies that promote survival in resource-limited conditions."],"dc:format":["PDF"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://scholarwolf.unr.edu/handle/11714/11878"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:title":["A tale of two grasses: Seed production has small & potentially positive effects on seed & seedling traits of squirreltail grasses, but Thurber’s needlegrass resists farming"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master’s Degree"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:47:58Z"}