Linking seed germination and plant height: a case study of a wetland community on the eastern Tibet Plateau

Abstract

Seed germination is the earliest trait expressed in a plant's life history, and it can directly affect the expression of post-germination traits. Plant height is central to plant ecological strategies, because it is a major determinant of the ability of a species to compete for light. Thus, linking seed germination and plant height at the community level is very important to understanding plant fitness and community structure. Here, we tested storage condition and temperature requirements for germination of 31 species from a wetland plant community on the eastern Tibet Plateau and analysed correlation of germination traits with plant height in relation to storage condition. Germination percentage was positively related to plant height, and this relationship disappeared when seeds were incubated at a low temperature (i.e. 5 °C) or after they were stored under wet-cold conditions. The response of seeds to dry+wet-cold storage was negatively related to plant height. Based on the scores of each species on the first two principal components derived from PCA, species were classified into two categories by hierarchical clustering, and there was a significant difference between germination and plant height of species in these two categories. These results suggest that the requirements for seed germination together with seasonal change in environmental conditions determine the window for germination and, in turn, plant growth season and resource utilisation and ultimately plant height.

Seed germination responses to seasonal temperature and drought stress are species‐specific but not related to seed size in a desert steppe: Implications for effect of climate change on community structure

“…Although germination response to climatic factors has been investigated for alpine/subalpine species at population and community levels (Cao et al, ; Cavieres & Arroyo, ; Giménez‐Benavides, Escudero, & Pérez‐García, ; Liu et al, ; Shimono & Kudo, ; Wagner & Simons, ), knowledge of seed germination response of species in temperate desert regions is scarce at the community level. Knowledge of differential responses seed germination within and between species in a community is important in predicting community composition under future climate conditions.…”

Seed Traits Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1991–2020

“…Keywords show information about research trends and frontiers, as well as the topics of most interest to researchers in the field [ 29 , 33 , 34 ]. From a total of 40,057 keywords, wordcloud showed the 50 most used keywords in the past 30 years since 1991 ( Figure 5 ).…”

“…Seed germination is the most important life-cycle stage affecting population establishment and regeneration. It is not only affected by temperature, light, soil moisture and other environmental factors, but is also closely related to the characteristics of the parents and ST [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Many researchers in the fields of seed science, agriculture, botany and ecology have expressed concerns about seed germination.…”

Germination Characteristics Is More Associated With Phylogeny-Related Traits of Species in a Salinized Grassland of Northeastern China

“…Seed germination is a critical life history stage that affects population establishment and regeneration (Nonogaki et al, 2010). Germination is not only influenced by environmental factors such as temperature (Galíndez et al, 2017), light (Lee et al, 2015), soil moisture (Essery et al, 1954), but also closely related to the characteristics of parent plant (Liu et al, 2018) and seed traits (Mamo et al, 2006). However, the effects of plant and seed traits on germination have received less attention than environmental factors.…”