Northern wild rice, Zizania palustris, is a vital natural resource in Michigan. Wild rice has been a central part of Midwestern Native American culture for centuries: Native Americans use it as a staple food, and it figures into many ceremonies Ojibway Indians call it manoomin, which means “good grain”. It is also a profitable cash crop for farmers. Sadly, however, northern wild rice is declining everywhere across its natural range, particularly in the southern part of its range (the Lower Peninsula of Michigan). This decline is due primarily to commercial development of its habitat and displacement by invasive species. Fortunately, there are now projects underway that are aimed at the conservation and restoration of Michigan’s wild rice resources.

The southeastern populations of wild rice are currently threatened with localized extinction because of aforementioned reasons, and genetic isolation from the continuous range in the northwestern Great Lakes states. It is hoped that seed from the northern populations near the Michigan-Wisconsin border, within the heart of genetic diversity for wild rice, can be used to restore the disjunct populations, at the southern terminus of its range.

If the stratification requirements for the two populations are similar, there is a good chance that seeds from the northern population can be used to restore the southern population.

Results/Conclusions

Our results indicated that the northern ecotype from Lac Vieux Desert (LVD) required less winter stratification than the southern ecotype from Lower Evans Lake (LEL). We found that LVD rice started germinating on January 3 (97 days cold treatment), and as of February 5 (130 days), eleven had germinated. Also as of February 5 (146 days) none of the LEL seeds had germinated. This suggests that they need more stratification to germinate. The difference in number of days for the two samples is a result of the different harvest days (September 28 for LVD and September 12 for LEL). Future studies will include wild rice seed from Hamlin Lake, near Manistee, Michigan, and Houghton Lake to determine the variation in winter stratification needed across the southern range terminus for northern wild rice. These studies will help us determine where the rice seed should be harvested from for restoration projects to ensure genetic suitability to its new habitat.