Germination is considered as one of the most crucial steps in a plant’s lifetime. The germination of Eryngium maritimum, a dune species located across all European coasts, has been extensively analysed in Northern populations, where it is considered a locally endangered species. However, less attention has been given to southern populations, where the knowledge about the germination of the species is very limited. The main objective of the present study was to analyse the effect of cold stratification in one Mediterranean and one Atlantic population of the species, as well as to compare the potential variation of seed dormancy among a latitudinal gradient in European populations based on current literature. Seeds collected from Mallorca (Mediterranean, Spain) and Asturias (Atlantic, Spain) were germinated at different temperatures and cold stratification periods ranging from 4 to 20 weeks. These results were merged with the results of previous studies to test the potential effect of latitude and climatic variables in germination. Although the optimal incubation temperature was 10 ºC, the highest final germination percentages (up to 96%) was obtained in both populations combining specific cold stratification periods (5 ºC) and constant incubation temperatures (15–20 ºC). Atlantic seeds needed longer cold stratification times to reach high germination percentages compared with Mediterranean seeds. Apart from the stratification response, significant differences in viability and in germination were observed between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean populations. Considering data from previous studies in the analysis, the results suggest that there is a potential effect of latitude in the ecological germination requirements, by which the higher the latitude, the longer the cold stratification period required to germinate, with a correlation with the mean annual temperature. These results suggests that two factors, modulation of dormancy relating to adaptative or maternal effects and viability, govern the germination of the species.

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This article analyses whether Official Development Assistance (ODA) is linked to multidimensional poverty indicators in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Indictors and the principles stated by the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation. Focused on three western Sub-Saharan Africa and least developing countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, this article uses Error Correction Vector Model to estimate if ODA and economic growth are cointegrated and a sectoral and spatial analysis to check if ODA are linked to Multidimensional Poverty Indicators in the sample countries. Despite the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the three countries have achieved noticeable good results in poverty alleviation. Results shows a certain macro-micro paradox because, despite a common trend between aid and growth identified at the macro level, we cannot find any sign of ODA contributions to the multidimensional poverty indicators when the micro level analysis is carried out. Our results may serve to increase the level of implementation of the ownership principle for effective development co-operation and achieve a significant improvement of several goals and targets included on the 2030 Agenda.