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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Forage and Range Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #227152

Title: Notice of Release of NBR-1 Germplasm Basalt Milkvetch

Author
item Johnson, Douglas
item Jones, Thomas
item Connors, Kevin
item BHATTARAI, KISHOR - UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
item Bushman, Shaun
item Jensen, Kevin

Submitted to: Native Plants Journal
Publication Type: Germplasm Release
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/21/2008
Publication Date: 7/10/2008
Citation: Johnson, D.A., Jones, T.A., Connors, K.J., Bhattarai, K., Bushman, B.S., Jensen, K.B. 2008. Notice of Release of NBR-1 Germplasm Basalt Milkvetch. Native Plant Journal 9:127-132.

Interpretive Summary: Basalt milkvetch (Astragalus filipes) is a perennial legume that is widely distributed on rangelands in western North America and holds promise for rangeland revegetation and restoration programs. No germplasms or cultivars are commercially available for basalt milkvetch. A total of 67 seed collections of basalt milkvetch were made in 2003 from six states in the western U.S. Plants were started in the greenhouse and transplanted to field sites at Providence and Millville in northern Utah in 2004. In 2005 and 2006, these plants were measured for biomass yield, plant height, number of stems, number of flowers, seed yield, protein content, plant vigor, and toxicity to livestock. Twelve collections from the northern Great Basin with the highest seed yields and with no toxicity were identified. Wildland seed for these 12 selected collections was mixed by equal seed weight to form NBR-1 Germplasm Basalt Milkvetch. This germplasm was cooperatively released by USDA-ARS and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station for use in revegetation and restoration of burned or degraded rangelands in the northern Great Basin Region of the western U.S.

Technical Abstract: Basalt milkvetch or threadstalk milkvetch (Astragalus filipes Torr. ex A. Gray) is a perennial legume that is widely distributed on rangelands in western North America and holds promise for rangeland revegetation and restoration programs. No germplasms or cultivars are commercially available for basalt milkvetch. Seeds of 67 accessions (20 accessions from the Northern Basin and Range Ecoregion) were collected in 2003 from the western USA. Accessions evaluated at Providence and Millvile in northern Utah in 2005 and 2006 varied significantly (P<0.01) for biomass yield, plant height, number of stems, number of inflorescences, and plant vigor score. Accessions did not vary (P>0.01) for crude protein concentration at Providence, whereas seed yield and seed mass varied significantly (P<0.01) at Millville. Analysis of field-collected forage samples from the 20 accessions from the Northern Basin and Range Ecoregion indicated that four accessions had detectable levels of selenium, swainsonine, and/or nitrotoxins. Twelve accessions from the Northern Basin and Range Ecoregion with the highest seed yields and with no detectable levels of selenium, nitrotoxins, and swainsonine were identified. Seed collected from the respective wildland collection sites for these 12 selected accessions was bulked by equal weight to form the G0 generation of NGR-1 Germplasm, which was cooperatively released by USDA-ARS and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station as NBR-1 Germplasm Basalt Milkvetch. NBR-1 Germplasm is a selected class, manipulated track pre-variety germplasm for use in restoration, reclamation, and rehabilitation of semiarid rangelands in the northern Great Basin Region of the western USA.