Germination niche breadth and potential response to climate change differ among three North American perennials

Bandara, Ridma G.; Finch, Jessamine; Walck, Jeffrey L.; Hidayati, Siti N.; Havens, Kayri

doi:10.1007/s12224-019-09347-2

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Indeed, alpine plants have been shown to have the potential to shift to autumn (from spring) germination with autumn heatwaves (Orsenigo et al 2015). Such a shift does not need to be limited to alpine regions, since populations of species in temperate regions have also been shown to have potential to shift (Bandara et al 2019). Responses among the study species varied widely in our experiments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to affecting the quantity of germination, climate change could also influence the timing of germination (Mondoni et al 2012; Cochrane 2016). However, the amount of the shift in germination timing may depend on the initial degree of dormancy in fresh seeds and on whether future habitat temperatures overlap with the germination envelope (Bandara et al 2019). Thus, phenology could shift when temperatures that elicit germination occur at new times of the year, causing seedling emergence in new seasons and potentially having large repercussions on the demography of the population ( e.g .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Germination responses to winter warm spells and warming vary widely among woody plants in a temperate forest

et al. 2020

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Winter underpins key ecological processes, such as dormancy loss and seedling emergence. Enhanced warm spells, together with warming are occurring and will continue in the future. The consequences of these climate phenomena on germination were investigated among co‐occurring woody plants, whose seeds are bird‐dispersed in autumn and require cold stratification for spring emergence. Seeds from nine common southeastern USA plants were collected in autumn. We verified that seeds of the study species required cold stratification for dormancy loss. We then examined the following aspects in the laboratory or field: effect of warm spells during cold stratification on germination, effect of a warm spell during winter on seed survival and germination phenology, and effect of warming from autumn dispersal through winter dormancy loss on timing of germination. While no consistent effects of warm spells were found in the laboratory on quantity of germination, warm spells advanced spring field germination for several species. Some species germinated during cold stratification and during warm spells, especially extreme spells, in the laboratory. In the field, about half of Lonicera maackii seedlings that emerged with a warm spell died by late winter. With warming from autumn through spring, laboratory germination shifted from spring to predominately autumn for some species. With precocious germination during warm spells or germination phenology shifts, two scenarios are possible. Seedlings may die during winter, reducing the size of the soil seed bank and number of emergents, or they would survive in warmer winters, which would give them a competitive advantage over spring‐emerging seedlings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Germination responses to winter warm spells and warming vary widely among woody plants in a temperate forest

et al. 2020

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“…Germination can strongly influence seedling survival in ways that contribute to delineating the boundaries of species distributions (Fenner and Thompson 2005, Baskin and Baskin 2014). Germination that is cued to specific environmental factors improves the likelihood that seeds germinate in favorable conditions, but environmental requirements for germination may also restrict taxa to certain environments (Donohue et al 2010, Walck et al 2011, Bandara et al 2019), and such requirements vary among species (Zhang et al 2014, Rosbakh and Poschlod 2015, Fernández‐Pascual et al 2017). Similarly, bet‐hedging of germination (distributing germination over time) can enable persistence in temporally unpredictable environments, both within and across years (Venable and Brown 1988, Donohue et al 2010, Cochrane et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation filters seed traits and germination strategies in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2020

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Seeds are the colonizing propagules for many plants and may therefore contribute to the filtering of species during the process of colonization and community assembly. Environmental filtering of seed traits may occur among species and influence community composition, or within species and influence the environmental breadth that a given species inhabits. To test for evidence of such filtering of seed traits, we measured morphological and germination traits of seeds of 408 angiosperm species collected across an elevational gradient in the eastern Tibetan Plateau grasslands. We tested for elevational filtering of traits at the species level, as well as within 22 of those species that occurred at different elevations, in order to test whether within‐species variation reflected among‐species patterns. Elevational patterning occurred in both seed morphology and seed germination. Seeds were smaller, more elongated and had a higher surface area:volume ratio and shorter germination times at higher elevation. Seed morphology was associated with germination such that more elongated and smaller seeds with a higher surface area:volume ratio germinated faster, leading to earlier germination in seeds from high elevation. Within species, elevational variation in seed traits was observed in several species, but species differed in how those traits were distributed across elevation. These results suggest that taxonomic differences in seed traits may contribute to elevational variation in the species composition of plant communities, but that seed traits may be variably selected by elevation within species.

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“…The variable p i equals the proportion of seed germination in state i (i.e., treatment) and R is the total number of states. R values for fresh (0 weeks of storage) and after-ripened seeds harvested in 2017 equaled eight (6,11,17,22,25,31,36, and 40 • C) and nine (4 weeks storage at about 23 • C followed by incubation at 6,11,17,22,25,31,36, and 40 • C), respectively. R values for seeds harvested in 2018 and then exposed to constant temperatures, simulated seasonal temperatures, photoperiods, and salinity equaled seven (4 weeks storage at about 23 • C followed by incubation at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 • C), four (22/11, 27/15, 29/19, and 33/24 • C), five (22/11, 27/15, 29/19, and 33/24 • C followed by transfer to 22 • ), two (12/12 h photoperiod and darkness), and fifteen (0, 0.5, 1,2,4,5,6,10,15,20,25,30,35,40, and 45 ppth NaCl).…”

Section: Estimating Germination Niche Breadthsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specialization tends to be favored by species occurring in temporally stable environments (e.g., warm, tropical climates), while temporally unstable environments (e.g., temperate climates) tend to promote a generalist strategy [18][19][20][21]. Additionally, niche breadths are known to vary among populations and within succeeding generations of a population [22,23]. Clarification of a species germination niche breadth has implications for other questions related to determination of species diversity in a given area, similarities between species and relationships to coexistence, partitioning of an environment between species, how species within a community shape inter-species evolution, and adaptation of individuals at the population level [18,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Conservation of a Globally Imperiled Rockland Herb (Linum arenicola) through Assessments of Seed Functional Traits and Multi-Dimensional Germination Niche Breadths

Pérez

Chumana

2020

Plants

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Humans currently face an extraordinary period of plant biodiversity loss. One strategy to stem further losses involves the development of species-level recovery plans that guide conservation actions. Seeds represent an important component in the life history of plants and are crucial for conservation activities. Yet, most recovery plans contain meager seed biology information. We set out to examine seed functional traits and germination niche breadth of Linum arenicola seeds exposed to a range of thermal, photoperiodic, and salinity gradients to gain perspectives on the seed biology of this endangered species that may inform conservation decision making and assist recovery plan development. We found that fresh seeds possess non-deep physiological dormancy, which may be alleviated via a four-week dry after-ripening treatment. The germination response of non-dormant seeds is subsequently promoted by constant rather than alternating temperatures. The optimum germination temperature range is 20–22 °C. Non-dormant seeds do not possess an absolute light requirement for germination, but are sensitive to low levels of salinity (EC50 = 6.34 ppth NaCl). The narrow thermal and salinity germination niche breadths reported here suggest a specialized reproductive strategy that may require careful consideration when planning ex and in situ conservation activities.

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Germination niche breadth and potential response to climate change differ among three North American perennials

Cited by 17 publications

References 37 publications

Germination responses to winter warm spells and warming vary widely among woody plants in a temperate forest

Germination responses to winter warm spells and warming vary widely among woody plants in a temperate forest

Elevation filters seed traits and germination strategies in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Enhancing Conservation of a Globally Imperiled Rockland Herb (Linum arenicola) through Assessments of Seed Functional Traits and Multi-Dimensional Germination Niche Breadths

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