INDUSTRY FIELD GUIDE
Forest nursery seed-source and seedling-lot data for AI
A seedling’s current bench tag does not necessarily reveal where its seed originated.
NAICS 113210 · Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products
A seedling’s current bench tag does not necessarily reveal where its seed originated. The Forest Service’s National Seed Laboratory supports restoration and reforestation with seed-related expertise. A nursery can use its own invented lineage to test whether a model preserves provenance after a batch is split. Forest Service National Seed Laboratory research · Forest Service stock production discussion
Use a fictional seed collection with a source alias and two nursery outputs. Give one output a transfer label and give another a planting destination with the same species but a different seed lot. Ask the model which seedlings can be traced to the collection. Add a record that confirms species without confirming provenance. Score both fields separately, and require the model to name the missing link when it cannot trace a result.
Do not reveal precise collection areas, protected species locations, seed source agreements, genetics, or tribal or other restricted knowledge. Use your own mock tags and get nursery and source-owner authorization before proposing real records.
Describe a seed provenance test
Original Fiund exercise
Species identity can survive a label while seed-source provenance remains missing
Fictional seed and seedling batches use abstract source aliases and original tags. No collection location, protected knowledge, genetics or real restoration decision appears.
| Record | Source | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| FS1 | Collection and split | Seed lot S1 from source alias Z produces nursery batches N1 and N2. Original split card supplied. |
| FS2 | Transfer tag | N1 moved to bench B with its S1 parent reference retained. Tag explicitly confirms species SP. |
| FS3 | Destination card | Planting destination D lists species SP and batch N3 from seed lot S2. Another bench tag confirms SP only, with no seed-lot field. |
Question for the model
Which nursery batches trace to source Z, and does a species-only tag or planting destination establish the same provenance?
Show the reference answer and checks
FS1 explicitly links N1 and N2 to S1 and source Z, and FS2 preserves N1's lineage through its bench move. FS3 links N3 to another lot, S2, while the species-only tag supplies no seed-source relationship. Species SP is not a unique provenance key. Keep verified species separate from verified seed ancestry and request a missing batch-to-lot record before assigning Z to an otherwise unlinked plant.
- Inferring common seed origin from matching species names.
- Using a planting destination or current bench as a substitute for collection lineage.
Fields to preserve
- Source alias and seed lot
- Defines origin.
- Nursery batch and transfer parent
- Preserves lineage after splits and moves.
- Species confirmation and provenance state
- Separates two different claims.
Test another case
Add a species-corrected tag for N2 without changing its parent lot. Require species to update while source Z remains linked through S1.
Use fictional lineage. Exclude precise collection areas, protected species locations, source agreements and restricted knowledge; real collection requires source-owner and nursery authority.
Discuss a contribution
Describe the sources you control, the task they could support and what has already been checked. Use the existing-data assessment for an archive or the collection brief for a new recording project. The contributor agreement defines Fiund’s licensing authority and compensation. A guide or fictional exercise does not establish an accepted collection or a sale.