ABSTRACT

Rangeland ecosystems span millions of hectares across Canada and, when properly managed, function as resilient, self-renewing systems that support sustainable forage production and essential ecosystem services. However, once degraded or disrupted, successful restoration becomes complex. Re-establishment of native species is often constrained by limited seed availability, uncertain seed provenance, poor establishment success, and reduced persistence under increasingly variable climatic conditions. Despite the ecological and economic importance of these landscapes, our understanding of the genetic diversity, adaptive capacity, and regional suitability of native seed sources across Western Canada remains limited. Advancing knowledge of population-level variation and local adaptation is critical to developing climate-resilient plant materials, avoiding genetic offsets, and evidence-based reintroduction strategies that ensure long-term ecosystem function and productivity. Current projects and results from native plant germplasm assessments conducted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are presented as part of this seminar.

Bio

Dr. Sean Asselin

Dr. Sean Asselin is a perennial crop breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, specializing in the breeding and genomics of native rangeland plants for their maintenance and integration in agro-ecosystems for the support of ecosystem services. His lab focuses on population-level variation in stress tolerance, identification of genes associated with adaptation to climate, production challenges, and genotype X environment interactions of native plants to support the breeding of native species for forage production and reclamation end uses.