Objective:
Evaluate quality of seed accessions collected on NPS lands and recommend storage procedures that will maximize seed longevity.

Approach:
Recent work provides new potential assays that quickly and noninvasively identify seeds that may be sensitive to low temperature storage. A technique using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measures thermal properties of storage lipids (triacylglycerol: TAG) quickly and non-invasively using < 10 mg of seeds and reveals a likely mechanism for the faster degradation. Another technique measures water affinity in seeds at different storage temperatures and likely reveals risks of inadvertent overdrying. Using these techniques as assays to identify species that are at risk allows collections managers to select the most appropriate storage conditions to maximize seed longevity (i.e., appropriate drying conditions and -18 versus cryogenic storage). Other emerging DSC techniques show promise in non-invasively detecting loss of viability during storage for NPS-CPC accessions regardless of their storage physiology, obviating the need to deplete seeds from the core collection periodically for germination monitoring.