PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Barbara L Wilson
AU  - Dale C Darris
AU  - Rob Fiegener
AU  - Randy Johnson
AU  - Matthew E Horning
AU  - Keli Kuykendall
TI  - Seed Transfer Zones For a Native Grass (<em>Festuca roemeri</em>)
AID  - 10.2979/NPJ.2008.9.3.287
DP  - 2008 Sep 21
TA  - Native Plants Journal
PG  - 287--303
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
4099  - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/9/3/287.short
4100  - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/9/3/287.full
SO  - NATIVE PLANTS JOURNAL2008 Sep 21; 9
AB  - A common-garden study of Festuca roemeri (Pavlick) E. B. Alexeev (Poaceae) revealed substantial genetic variation within and among 47 populations from throughout its range in the Pacific Northwest, US, for growth, fitness, phenological, and morphological traits. Using climatic and physiographic variables, genetic patterns over the landscape were examined through principal component and regression analysis. Elevation and latitude of the seed source, and to a lesser extent temperature and precipitation, explained a significant proportion of the genetic variation, suggesting that observed variation was associated with adaptation to local environments. Most plants from the Willamette Valley exhibited poor growth and survival, perhaps due to inbreeding. Festuca roemeri variation clustered into seed transfer zones corresponding to Level III ecoregions, and one zone was further subdivided. High-elevation populations separated from lower-elevation populations but did not cluster into a single seed zone. Seed transfer zones reported here provide a guide for plant community restoration efforts using this species.