Underground seed banks hold promise for ecological restoration.
In 2000, Sam Lea converted his once-productive Willamette Valley onion field back into wetlands. The third-generation Oregon farmer excavated several ponds and largely left the land alone. Soon, willows arrived on the wind. Then tule appeared. About five years ago, he noticed wapato had sprouted. The edible tuber, a traditional food for Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples, is now flourishing. The greenery covers 70 acres. “If you look at it now, you’d think we planted it all,” Lea said.
Wapato was once abundant but hasn’t grown here since the early 1900s, when Lake Labish, a shallow body of water 10 miles long and north of Salem, was drained for farming. Historic accounts describe Molalla people gathering tubers in the area. “There’s a significant seed bank in the soil,” said David G. Lewis (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde), an Oregon State University anthropology and Indigenous studies assistant professor who descends from western Oregon’s Takelma, Chinook, Molalla and Santiam Kalapuya peoples. “If you leave it alone, (plants) will come back.” Read More : https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-3/underground-seed-banks-hold-promise-for-ecological-restoration/