From the Editor

A theme that runs through this issue as well as many local, regional, national, and international assessments is the challenge of moving native plants through bottlenecks in the restoration pipeline. Bottlenecks can occur at every demographic stage, from seed to germinant to seedling to, ultimately, persistent populations in the field. We are in the midst of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, yet in many cases the knowledge needed for maximum, or even acceptable, success in restoring native plants remains unavailable. The researchers and authors featured in this issue are helping address those gaps by producing insightful, practical, and much-needed work.

The papers in this issue span several key bottlenecks in the restoration pipeline. Kong and others address one of the earliest stages by examining trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) seeds, which have very short viability after dispersal but, depending on ripeness, can be stored for future restoration actions. Several papers then address one of the most familiar bottlenecks: getting seeds to germinate on a timescale useful for restoration. Inoue and Sobze address this for three woody species: red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), Canadian buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis), and green alder (Alnus viridis). Connolly and Aligwara examine the same problem for honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), and Hines and others for American starvine (Schisandra glabra). The two remaining papers focus on bottlenecks that occur after planting, when restored individuals must survive and persist in the field. Chiquoine and others address this stage in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts, and Hamerlynch and others in the sagebrush steppe.

At a time when the need for ecological restoration is both urgent and growing, it is encouraging to see native plant researchers continuing to build the knowledge base required for success. Taken together, the papers in this issue remind us that restoration depends on an extensive community of researchers, growers, and practitioners working to move native plants through bottlenecks that can occur throughout the restoration pipeline. The authors in this issue are contributing meaningfully to that effort, and we are proud that Native Plants Journal serves as a place where this knowledge is shared.

Lora Perkins

Professor, South Dakota State University

Editor-in-Chief, Native Plants Journal