Collecting Seeds to Improve River Ecosystems

Just after the snow begins to melt each spring in April, NorthWoods Stewardship Center and the Intervale Center welcome seasonal crews to help with phenology tracking and seed collection for riparian tree and shrub species throughout Vermont as part of the Riparian Lands Native Seed Partnership (RLNSP). This partnership between the two organizations officially began in 2023, after the Intervale Center hired on Brooke Fleischman to help coordinate seed collection efforts as their Statewide Seed Coordinator. The RLNSP has developed out of a larger need for seed for restoration and an ongoing cornfield replication experiment that has been running since the mid-2010s by Vermont Fish & Wildlife, Connecticut River Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy in Vermont, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to determine the best methods for re-establishing floodplain forests and restoring ecosystem health in areas that have been invaded by reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) – an invasive plant in the northeast. Seed collection has become an integral part of the cornfield replication project as it supplements natural seed fall on sites – or even provides the sole source of seeds on a site.

Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) PC: Lynn Harper

Field to the left treated with hydroseeding project and Reed canary grass to the right. PC: Jess Colby

Jess Colby, the Riparian Lands Program Coordinator for NorthWoods, has been leading seasonal crews in seed collection efforts since 2021. Over the past two years, NorthWoods and Intervale have worked together to map seed source locations – especially in the northern half of the state – and catalogue collections for future use in restoration projects. NorthWoods and Intervale both have licenses to collect on State-owned lands throughout the state and currently focus on roughly 40 species that fluctuate in priority due to direct seeding needs and masting cycles. Last fall, the two organizations decided to devote more efforts into identifying seed sources in southern Vermont to diversify the genetic representation in collections. This work to expand into more southerly sites started in the fall of 2024 with University of Vermont students in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources (RSENR) NR4060 class to use GIS to identify potential seed source locations, based on certain criteria provided by Brooke and Jess – including distance from water, trails, and/or roads, and areas located on public land. The two teams have been utilizing what the NR4060 students developed to identify sites in southern Vermont more efficiently. NorthWoods and Intervale are also reaching out to conservation organizations in southern Vermont to help develop relationships with landowners and identify sites for target species.

Current seed source map, housed by the Intervale Center.

At the start of the 2025 season, the two crews met up with folks from Billings Farm, Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District, Woodstock Union High School, and Dartmouth College to discuss seed collection and native tree nursery propagation needs in the area. Hayley Kolding from Vermont River Conservancy (VRC) graciously hosted the two crews for the night and the following day, they went out with both Hayley and Isla Lyons from VRC who had identified some potential seed collection sites as far south as Brattleboro. The following week, the two crews visited Eliza Merrylees, who is the Conservation Easement & Land Steward for The Nature Conservancy’s Poultney office, and explored their Bald Mountain Preserve at the most southern edge of Lake Champlain. Jess Eller from Ducks Unlimited took the crews out the next day and explored some DU sites in Sunderland and Brandon which the Intervale team has since revisited and collected shrub willow (Salix spp.) from!

This work remains essential as Vermont’s climate and rivers continue to change. To understand why it matters, it’s important to know that many riparian (riverbank) ecosystems in Vermont have been damaged over time—mainly when forests along rivers were cleared up to the stream bank leaving no buffer and turned into farmland, such as hay fields, corn fields, or pastures. These changes often led to the spread of invasive plants like reed canary grass. While planted for hay it spreads aggressively, outcompeting native plants in wetlands. Other common invasive species in riparian zones are Knotweed, Honeysuckle, and Phragmites. By using nature-based solutions—such as collecting seeds from a wide variety of native plants to restore these areas—we can rebuild healthy riparian buffers. These buffers support wildlife and native fish, stabilize stream banks, trap sediment, and reduce the amount of agricultural runoff that enters rivers.