Development of methods for multi-seed pellets using native shrubs and forbs

采矿后复垦管理是复杂的，要求资源开采行业建立一个功能齐全的草本、灌木和树木植物群落。大多数情况下，设想的植物群落是利用苗木幼苗实现的。直接播种是重建植物群落的一种经济有效的替代方法。在垦殖地成功使用种子受到播种条件太差的限制。种子与土壤接触不良、因捕食而丢失种子以及种子休眠是限制幼苗出苗和成树成功的主要因素。种子包衣是用有效成分将同一种或不同种的单粒或多粒种子覆盖在一个单一的传播单元中的做法。将该技术应用于原生灌木和草本植物，可以解决复垦企业在复垦现场进行直播播种时遇到的挑战。该项目旨在帮助一个小型企业开发灌木和草本植物多种子颗粒的方法，并测试它们的发芽和幼苗生长。该项目将评估添加三种不同的填充材料和有机粘合剂来覆盖来自两种灌木和两种草本植物的两种种子；然后在实验室和温室进行发芽试验。项目成果将为苗圃和复垦企业提供有效的种子增强方法，由于大型跨国种子公司的“商业保密”，他们无法获得这些方法。中小企业也缺乏进行科学实验和开发种子包衣配方的能力。预期研究结果可提高商业播种业的效率、提高种子出苗率和成活率、降低复垦成本，并可让复垦人员在复垦地点建立植物物种多样性。

Post-mining reclamation regulation is complex and requires the resource extraction industry to establish a fully functioning plant community of herbaceous, shrubs, and trees. Most often, the envisioned plant communities are achieved using nursery stock seedlings. A cost-effective alternative method to re-establish plantcommunities is by direct seeding. The successful use of seeds in reclamation sites is constrained by a very poor establishment of sown seeds. Poor seed-to-soil contact, loss of seed due to predation, and seed dormancy are among the main factors limiting seedling emergence and plants establishment success. Seed coating is thepractice of covering single seed or multiple seeds of the same or different species into a single dispersal unitwith active ingredients. The application of this technology to native shrubs and forbs could provide a solution to challenges that reclamation enterprises encounter while applying direct broadcast seeding on reclamationsites. This project aims at assisting a small enterprise in developing methods for multi-seed pellets of shrub andforb and testing their germination and seedling growth. The project will assess the addition of three different filler materials with an organic binder to coat two seed species from two shrubs and two forbs; followed bygermination testing in the lab and greenhouse. The project outcomes will equip nurseries and reclamationenterprises with efficient seed enhancement methodology, which they do not have access to due to'commercial-in-confidence' by the major multinational seed companies. Small- to medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) also lack the capability to conduct scientific experiments and develop their seed coating recipes. It is anticipated that the findings of the study will increase efficiency in the commercial seeding process, improve seed emergence and survival rate, reduce the cost of reclamation, and allow restoration practitioners toestablish plant species diversity in reclamation sites.