In wildlands, such as the prairies of the Northern Great Plains, environmental degradation has created the need for ecological restoration of native plants on the landscape. These ecological restorations require native seed. However, many seed-based restoration efforts fail in that they do not produce the desired vegetation. Lack of species-specific information on germination characteristics and dormancy of native seed could be contributing to these failures. Therefore, restoration practitioners and other users of native seed need germination and dormancy information for native species to improve outcomes. Our objectives in this study were to examine germination characteristics and seed treatments that best promote germination in plant species native to the Northern Great Plains and define dormancy classes for each of our study species. To meet these objectives and promote success in seed-based restoration, we conducted a germination experiment for 15 high-priority native forbs. Seeds were treated with four pretreatments (scarification, smoke, fertilizer, and a control), three stratification lengths (2, 4, and 8 weeks), and different temperature regimes. We examined the influence of each factor to determine the means of breaking dormancy and best planting practices. Our data indicated that a scarification treatment before planting Gaillardia aristata increased germination by over 19%. This data suggests that while the majority of our G. aristata seeds are non-dormant, a percentage are physiologically dormant. Our data also shows that Penstemon albidus is strongly influenced by temperature conditions, and the species requires a period of cold stratification to increase overall germination. This information will be used to develop best planting practices for government agencies and aid seed producers and distributors by offering seed storage and planting instructions matching the phenology of native plant species. This rigorous germination experiment can also be used as a model for other priority species and can be adapted to different ecoregions.
