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Germination requirements and seed mass of slow- and fast-colonizing temperate forest herbs along a latitudinal gradient

Graae, Bente J. ; Verheyen, Kris ; Kolb, Annette ; Van Der Veken, Sebastian ; Heinken, Thilo ; Chabrerie, Olivier ; Diekmann, Martin ; Valtinat, Karin LU ; Zindel, Renate and Karlsson, Elisabeth , et al. (2009) In Écoscience 16(2). p.248-257
Abstract
Predictions on displacement of suitable habitats due to climate change suggest that plant species with poor colonization ability may be unable to move fast enough to match forecasted climate-induced changes in habitat distribution. However, studies on early Holocene plant migration show fast migration of many plant species that are poor colonizers today We hypothesize that warmer temperatures during the early Holocene yielded higher seed quality, contributing to explaining the fast migration. We studied how the 3 seed quality variables, seed mass, germinability, and requirements for break of seed dormancy, vary for seeds of 11 forest herb species with varying colonization capacity collected along a 1400-km latitudinal gradient. Within... (More)
Predictions on displacement of suitable habitats due to climate change suggest that plant species with poor colonization ability may be unable to move fast enough to match forecasted climate-induced changes in habitat distribution. However, studies on early Holocene plant migration show fast migration of many plant species that are poor colonizers today We hypothesize that warmer temperatures during the early Holocene yielded higher seed quality, contributing to explaining the fast migration. We studied how the 3 seed quality variables, seed mass, germinability, and requirements for break of seed dormancy, vary for seeds of 11 forest herb species with varying colonization capacity collected along a 1400-km latitudinal gradient. Within species, seed mass showed a positive correlation with latitude, whereas germinability was more positively correlated with temperature (growing degree hours obtained at time of seed collection). Only slow-colonizing species increased germinability with temperature, whereas only fast-colonizing species increased germinability with latitude. These interactions were only detectable when analyzing germinability of the seeds, even though this trait and seed mass were correlated. The requirement for dormancy break did not correlate with latitude or temperature. The results indicate that seed development of slow colonizers may be favoured by a warmer climate, which in turn may be important for their migration capacity. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
seed dormancy, development, climate change, ancient forest, plant migration, seed, Reid's paradox
in
Écoscience
volume
16
issue
2
pages
248 - 257
publisher
Université Laval
external identifiers
  • wos:000267468000010
  • scopus:68149168580
ISSN
1195-6860
DOI
10.2980/16-2-3234
project
Climate Initiative
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Plant Ecology and Systematics (Closed 2011) (011004000)
id
4ef28592-e5d2-42e1-b6c0-d6073e447e55 (old id 1463300)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:35:54
date last changed
2022-03-22 00:51:15
@article{4ef28592-e5d2-42e1-b6c0-d6073e447e55,
  abstract     = {{Predictions on displacement of suitable habitats due to climate change suggest that plant species with poor colonization ability may be unable to move fast enough to match forecasted climate-induced changes in habitat distribution. However, studies on early Holocene plant migration show fast migration of many plant species that are poor colonizers today We hypothesize that warmer temperatures during the early Holocene yielded higher seed quality, contributing to explaining the fast migration. We studied how the 3 seed quality variables, seed mass, germinability, and requirements for break of seed dormancy, vary for seeds of 11 forest herb species with varying colonization capacity collected along a 1400-km latitudinal gradient. Within species, seed mass showed a positive correlation with latitude, whereas germinability was more positively correlated with temperature (growing degree hours obtained at time of seed collection). Only slow-colonizing species increased germinability with temperature, whereas only fast-colonizing species increased germinability with latitude. These interactions were only detectable when analyzing germinability of the seeds, even though this trait and seed mass were correlated. The requirement for dormancy break did not correlate with latitude or temperature. The results indicate that seed development of slow colonizers may be favoured by a warmer climate, which in turn may be important for their migration capacity.}},
  author       = {{Graae, Bente J. and Verheyen, Kris and Kolb, Annette and Van Der Veken, Sebastian and Heinken, Thilo and Chabrerie, Olivier and Diekmann, Martin and Valtinat, Karin and Zindel, Renate and Karlsson, Elisabeth and Strom, Lotta and Decocq, Guillaume and Hermy, Martin and Baskin, Carol C.}},
  issn         = {{1195-6860}},
  keywords     = {{seed dormancy; development; climate change; ancient forest; plant migration; seed; Reid's paradox}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{248--257}},
  publisher    = {{Université Laval}},
  series       = {{Écoscience}},
  title        = {{Germination requirements and seed mass of slow- and fast-colonizing temperate forest herbs along a latitudinal gradient}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2980/16-2-3234}},
  doi          = {{10.2980/16-2-3234}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}