Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T23:14:08.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thermal thresholds for seed germination in Mediterranean species are higher in mountain compared with lowland areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2018

Rosangela Picciau Open the ORCID record for Rosangela Picciau [Opens in a new window] ,
Hugh W. Pritchard ,
Efisio Mattana  and
Gianluigi Bacchetta
Rosangela Picciau*
Affiliation:
Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Viale S. Ignazio da Laconi, 11–13, 09123, Cagliari, Italy Banca del Germoplasma della Sardegna (BG-SAR), Hortus Botanicus Karalitanus (HBK), Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Viale Sant'Ignazio da Laconi, 9–11, 09123, Cagliari, Italy
Hugh W. Pritchard
Affiliation:
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TN, UK
Efisio Mattana
Affiliation:
Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Viale S. Ignazio da Laconi, 11–13, 09123, Cagliari, Italy Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TN, UK
Gianluigi Bacchetta
Affiliation:
Centro Conservazione Biodiversità, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Viale S. Ignazio da Laconi, 11–13, 09123, Cagliari, Italy Banca del Germoplasma della Sardegna (BG-SAR), Hortus Botanicus Karalitanus (HBK), Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Viale Sant'Ignazio da Laconi, 9–11, 09123, Cagliari, Italy
*
Author for correspondence: Rosangela Picciau, Email: rosangela.picciau@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Each taxon is characterized by a temperature range over which seed germination is possible and this may vary in space and time in relation to climate and ecological conditions. We used thermal modelling to test the hypothesis that thermal thresholds for seed germination can predict germination timing of Mediterranean species along an altitudinal and environmental gradient. Seeds of 18 species were collected in Sardinia from sea level to 1810 m above sea level, and germination tests were carried out at a range of constant (5 to 25°C) and alternating (25/10°C) temperatures. Different dormancy-breaking treatments [gibberellic acid (GA3), cold (C) and warm (W) stratifications and dry after ripening (DAR)] were applied. The annual pattern of soil temperatures was recorded using 24 data-loggers buried close to the study species. The logged soil temperatures distinguished ‘Mediterranean lowland’ from ‘Mediterranean mountain’ species. Although germination was >50% in untreated seeds of most species, GA3 had a positive effect in all species. C either inhibited or had a neutral effect on germination, W did not enhanced seed germination, while DAR had a positive effect only in species from coastal environments. The thermal time constant (S) for 50% germination ranged from 22 to 357°Cd (degree days) above base temperatures (Tb) of –9 to 9°C, depending on species and treatments. Mediterranean lowland species had lower Tb values compared with upland species. This study revealed significant differences in germination thresholds of Mediterranean lowland and mountain species in relation to Tb and S that probably have an impact on germination timing in the field and niche competitiveness.

Keywords

altitudinal gradientbase temperaturegermination rateMediterranean climatepre-treatments
Type
Research Paper
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 44 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bacchetta, G (2006) La flora del Sulcis (Sardegna sud-occidentale). Guineana 12, 1–369.Google Scholar
Bacchetta, G, Bagella, S, Biondi, E, Farris, E, Filigheddu, R and Mossa, L (2009) Vegetazione forestale e serie di vegetazione della Sardegna (con rappresentazione cartografica alla scala 1:350.000). Fitosociologia 46, 3–82.Google Scholar
Bacchetta, G, Fenu, G and Mattana, E (2012) A checklist of the exclusive vascular flora of Sardinia with priority rankings for conservation. Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid 69, 81–89.Google Scholar
Baskin, CC and Baskin, JM (1994) Deep complex morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of the mesic woodland herb Delphinium tricorne (Ranunculaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 155, 738–743.Google Scholar
Baskin, CC and Baskin, JM (2003) When breaking seed dormancy is a problem. Try a move-along experiment. Native Plants|Spring 4, 17–21.Google Scholar
Baskin, CC and Baskin, JM (2014) Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination (2nd edn). San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Batlla, D and Benech-Arnold, RL (2004) A predictive model for dormancy loss in Polygonum aviculare L. seeds based on changes in population hydrotime parameters. Seed Science Research 14, 277–286.Google Scholar
Bewley, JD (1997) Seed germination and dormancy. The Plant Cell 9, 1055–1066.Google Scholar
Billings, WD and Mooney, HA (1968) The ecology of arctic and alpine plants. Biological Reviews 43, 481–529.Google Scholar
Bradford, KJ, Benech-Arnold, RL, Côme, D and Corbineau, F (2008) Quantifying the sensitivity of barley seed germination to oxygen, abscisic acid, and gibberellin using a population-based threshold model. Journal of Experimental Botany 59, 335–347.Google Scholar
Carmignani, L, Oggiano, G, Barca, S, Conti, P, Salvadori, I, Eltrudis, A, Funedda, A and Pasci, S (2001) Geologia della Sardegna; Note Illustrative della Carta Geologica della Sardegna in scala 1:200.000. Memorie Descrittive della Carta Geologica d'Italia, Servizio Geologico d'Italia, Roma, 60, 283 pp.Google Scholar
Chantre, GR, Batlla, D, Sabbatini, MR and Orioli, G (2009) Germination parameterization and development of an after-ripening thermal-time model for primary dormancy release of Lithospermum arvense seeds. Annals of Botany 103, 1291–1301.Google Scholar
Covell, S, Ellis, RH, Roberts, EH and Summerfield, RJ (1986) The influence of temperature on seed germination rate in grain legumes. Journal of Experimental Botany 37, 705–715.Google Scholar
Crawley, MJ (2007) The R Book. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Google Scholar
Cuena-Lombraña, A, Porceddu, M, Dettori, CA and Bacchetta, G (2017) Discovering the type of seed dormancy and temperature requirements for seed germination of Gentiana lutea L. subsp. lutea (Gentianaceae). Journal of Plant Ecology 11, 308–316.Google Scholar
Daws, MI, Burslem, DFRP, Crabtree, LM, Kirkman, P, Mullins, CE and Dalling, JW (2002) Differences in seed germination responses may promote coexistence of four sympatric Piper species. Functional Ecology 16, 258–267.Google Scholar
Daws, MI, Lydall, E, Chmielarz, P, Leprince, O, Matthews, S, Thanos, CA and Pritchard, HW (2004) Developmental heat sum influences recalcitrant seed traits in Aesculus hippocastanum across Europe. New Phytologist 162, 157–166.Google Scholar
Debussche, M, Garnier, E and Thompson, JD (2004) Exploring the causes of variation in phenology and morphology in Mediterranean geophytes: a genus-wide study of Cyclamen. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 145, 469–484.Google Scholar
Doussi, MA and Thanos, CA (2002) Ecophysiology of seed germination in Mediterranean geophytes. 1. Muscari spp. Seed Science Research 12, 193–201.Google Scholar
Dürr, C, Dickie, JB, Yang, X-Y and Pritchard, HW (2015) Ranges of critical temperature and water potential values for the germination of species worldwide: contribution to a seed trait database. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 200, 222–232.Google Scholar
Ellis, RH, Covell, S, Roberts, EH and Summerfield, RJ (1986) The influence of temperature on seed germination rate in grain legumes. II. Intraspecific variation in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) at constant temperatures. Journal of Experimental Botany 37, 1503–1515.Google Scholar
Ellis, RH, Simon, G and Covell, S (1987) The influence of temperature on seed germination rate in grain legumes. III. A comparison of five faba bean genotypes at constant temperatures using a new screening method. Journal of Experimental Botany 38, 1033–1043.Google Scholar
Fenner, M and Thompson, K (2005) The Ecology of Seeds. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fenu, G, Fois, M, Cañadas, EM and Bacchetta, G (2014) Using endemic-plant distribution, geology and geomorphology in biogeography: the case of Sardinia (Mediterranean Basin). Systematics and Biodiversity 12, 181–193.Google Scholar
Fernández-Pascual, E, Jiménez-Alfaro, B, Caujapé-Castells, J, Jaén-Molina, R and Díaz, TE (2013) A local dormancy cline is related to the seed maturation environment, population genetic composition and climate. Annals of Botany 112, 937–945.Google Scholar
Fernández-Pascual, E, Mattana, E and Pritchard, HW (2018) Seeds of future past: climate change and the thermal memory of plant reproductive traits. Biological Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12461 (6 September 2018).Google Scholar
Finch-Savage, WE (2004) The use of population-based threshold models to describe and predict the effects of seedbed environment on germination and seedling emergence of crops, pp. 51–95 in Benech-Arnold, RL and Sánchez, RL (eds), Seed Physiology: Applications to Agriculture. New York, Haworth Press.Google Scholar
Finch-Savage, WE and Leubner-Metzger, G (2006) Seed dormancy and the control of germination. New Phytologist 171, 501–523.Google Scholar
Finch-Savage, WE, Cadman, CSC, Toorop, PE, Lynn, JR and Hilhorst, HWM (2007) Seed dormancy release in Arabidopsis thaliana by dry after-ripening, low temperature, nitrate and light shows common quantitative patterns of gene expression directed by environmentally specific sensing. The Plant Journal 51, 60–78.Google Scholar
Galíndez, G, Seal, C, Daws, MI, Lindow, L, Ortega-Baes, P and Pritchard, HW (2017) Alternating temperature combined with darkness resets base temperature for germination (T b) in photoblastic seeds of Lippia and Aloysia (Verbenaceae). Plant Biology 19, 41–45.Google Scholar
García-Fernández, A, Escudero, A, Lara-Romero, C and Iriondo, JM (2015) Effects of the duration of cold stratification on early life stages of the Mediterranean alpine plant Silene ciliata. Plant Biology 17, 344–350.Google Scholar
Garcia-Huidobro, J, Monteith, JL and Squire, GR (1982) Time, temperature and germination of pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoides S. & H.). Journal of Experimental Botany 33, 288–296.Google Scholar
Giménez-Benavides, L, Escudero, A and Pérez-García, F (2005) Seed germination of high mountain Mediterranean species: altitudinal, interpopulation and interannual variability. Ecological Research 20, 433–444.Google Scholar
Gresta, F, Cristaudo, A, Onofri, A, Restuccia, A and Avola, G (2010) Germination response of four pasture species to temperature, light, and post-harvest period. Plant Biosystems 144, 849–856.Google Scholar
Honek, A, Martinkova, Z, Lukas, J and Dixon, AFG (2014) Plasticity of the thermal requirements of exotherms and adaptation to environmental conditions. Ecology and Evolution 4, 3103–3112.Google Scholar
Joffre, R, Rambal, S and Damesin, C (1999) Functional attributes in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, pp. 347–380 in Pugnaire, FI and Valladares, F (eds), Handbook of Functional Plant Ecology. Marcel Dekker, NewYork.Google Scholar
Kadis, C (1995) On the reproductive biology of the strictly protected plants of Cyprus [in Greek]. PhD thesis, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.Google Scholar
Kadis, C and Georghiou, K (2010) Seed dispersal and germination behavior of three threatened endemic labiates of Cyprus. Plant Species Biology 25, 77–84.Google Scholar
Körner, C (1999) Alpine Plant Life: Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystems. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Kucera, B, Cohn, MA and Leubner-Metzger, L (2005) Plant hormone interactions during seed dormancy release and germination. Seed Science Research 15, 281–307.Google Scholar
Luna, B, Pérez, B, Céspedes, B and Moreno, JM (2008) Effect of cold exposure on seed germination of 58 plant species comprising several functional groups from a mid-mountain Mediterranean area. Ecoscience 15, 478–484.Google Scholar
Mattana, E, Daws, MI and Bacchetta, G (2009a) Seed dormancy and germination ecology of Lamyropsis microcephala: a mountain endemic species of Sardinia (Italy). Seed Science and Technology 37, 491–497.Google Scholar
Mattana, E, Daws, MI and Bacchetta, G (2009b) Effects of temperature, light and pre-chilling on germination of Rhamnus persicifolia, an endemic tree species of Sardinia (Italy). Seed Science and Technology 37, 758–764.Google Scholar
Mattana, E, Picciau, R, Puddu, S, Cuena Lombraña, A and Bacchetta, G (2016) Effect of temperature and cold stratification on seed germination of the Mediterranean wild aromatic Clinopodium sandalioticum (Lamiaceae). Plant Biosystems – An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology 150, 846–850.Google Scholar
McDonald, JH (2008) Handbook of Biological Statistics. Sparky House Publishing, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Medrano, H, Flexas, J and Galmés, J (2009) Variability in water use efficiency at the leaf level among Mediterranean plants with different growth forms. Plant Soil 317, 17–29.Google Scholar
Meyer, SE, Allen, PS and Beckstead, J (1997) Seed germination in Bromus tectorum and its ecological significance. Oikos 78, 475–485.Google Scholar
Mondoni, A, Rossi, G, Orsenigo, S and Probert, RJ (2012) Climate warming could shift the timing of seed germination in alpine plants. Annals of Botany 110, 155–164.Google Scholar
Mooney, HA and Billings, WD (1961) Comparative physiological ecology of arctic and alpine populations of Oxyria digyna. Ecological Monographs 31, 1–29.Google Scholar
Mooney, HA, Hillier, RD and Billings, WD (1965) Transpiration rates of alpine plants in the Sierra Nevada of California. American Midland Naturalist 74, 375–386.Google Scholar
Niederfriniger Schlag, R and Erschbamer, B (2000) Germination and establishment of seedlings on a glacier foreland in the Central Alps, Austria. Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research 32, 270–277.Google Scholar
Peishi, Z, Plummer, J, Turner, D, Choengsaat, D and Bell, D (1999) Low- and high-temperature storage effects on viability and germinability of seeds of three Australian Asteraceae. Australian Journal of Botany 47, 265–275.Google Scholar
Orrù, M, Mattana, E, Pritchard, HW and Bacchetta, G (2012) Thermal thresholds as predictors of seed dormancy release and germination timing: altitude-related risks from climate warming for the wild grapevine Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris. Annals of Botany 110, 1651–1660.Google Scholar
Pérez-Fernández, MA, Lamont, BB, Marwick, AL and Lamont, WG (2000) Germination of seven exotic weeds and seven native species in south-western Australia under steady and fluctuating water supply. Acta Oecologica 21, 323–336.Google Scholar
Picciau, R, Porceddu, M and Bacchetta, G (2017) Can alternating temperature, moist chilling, and gibberellin interchangeably promote the completion of germination in Clematis vitalba seeds? Botany 95, 847–852.Google Scholar
Picciau, R, Serra, S, Porceddu, M and Bacchetta, G (2018) Seed traits and germination behaviour of four Sardinian populations of Helichrysum microphyllum ssp. tyrrhenicum (Asteraceae) along an altitudinal gradient. Plant Biology. doi: 10.1111/plb.12903 (18 August 2018).Google Scholar
Porceddu, M, Mattana, E, Pritchard, HW and Bacchetta, G (2013) Thermal niche for in situ seed germination in Mediterranean mountain streams: model prediction and validation for Rhamnus persicifolia seeds. Annals of Botany 112, 1887–1897.Google Scholar
Porceddu, M, Mattana, E, Pritchard, HW and Bacchetta, G (2016) Sequential temperature control of multi-phasic dormancy release and germination of Paeonia corsica seeds. Journal of Plant Ecology 9, 464–473.Google Scholar
Porceddu, M, Mattana, E, Pritchard, HW and Bacchetta, G (2017) Dissecting seed dormancy and germination in Aquilegia barbaricina, through thermal kinetics of embryo growth. Plant Biology 19, 983–993.Google Scholar
Pritchard, HW and Manger, KR (1990) Quantal response of fruit and seed germination rate in Quercus robur L. and Castanea sativa Mill., to constant temperatures and photon dose. Journal of Experimental Botany 41, 1549–1557.Google Scholar
Pritchard, HW, Wood, JA and Manger, KR (1993) Influence of temperature on seed germination and nutritional requirements for embryo growth in Arum maculatum L. New Phytologist 123, 801–809.Google Scholar
Pritchard, HW, Steadman, KJ, Nash, JV and Jones, C (1999) Kinetics of dormancy release and the high temperature germination response in Aesculus hippocastanum seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 50, 1507–1514.Google Scholar
Probert, RJ (2000) The role of temperature in the regulation of seed dormancy and germination, pp. 261–292 in Fenner, M (eds), Seeds: the Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
R Core Team (2011) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria, R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available at: https://www.R-project.org/ (accessed March 2016).Google Scholar
Rosbakh, S and Poschlod, P (2015) Initial temperature of seed germination as related to species occurrence along a temperature gradient. Functional Ecology 29, 5–14.Google Scholar
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (2014) Seed Information Database (SID). Version 7.1. Available at: http://data.kew.org/sid/ (accessed May 2014).Google Scholar
Rundel, PW, Gibson, AC, Midgley, GS, Wand, SJE, Palma, B, Kleier, C and Lambrinos, J (2003) Ecological and ecophysiological patterns in a prealtiplano shrubland of the Andean Cordillera in northern Chile. Plant Ecology 169, 179–193.Google Scholar
Schütz, W (1999) Some ecological and biogeographical aspects of achene dormancy and after-ripening in Asteraceae, pp. 153–168 in Breckle, S-W, Schweizer, B and Arndt, U (eds), Results of Worldwide Ecological Studies. Proceedings of the First Symposium by the A.F.W., Schimper-Foundation, Hohenheim, Verlag Günter Heimbach, Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Seal, CE, Daws, MI, Flores, J, Ortega-Baes, P, Galíndez, G, León-Lobos, P, Sandoval, A, Ceroni Stuva, A, Ramírez Bullón, N, Dávila-Aranda, P, Ordoñez-Salanueva, CA, Yáñez-Espinosa, L, Ulian, T, Amosso, C, Zubani, L, Torres Bilbao, A and Pritchard, HW (2017) Thermal buffering capacity of the germination phenotype across the environmental envelope of the Cactaceae. Global Change Biology 23, 5309–5317.Google Scholar
Skordilis, A and Thanos, CA (1995) Seed stratification and germination strategy in the Mediterranean pines Pinus brutia and P. halepensis. Seed Science Research 5, 151–160.Google Scholar
Steadman, KJ and Pritchard, HW (2004) Germination of Aesculus hippocastanum seeds following cold-induced dormancy loss can be described in relation to a temperature-dependent reduction in base temperature (Tb) and thermal time. New Phytologist 161, 415–425.Google Scholar
Thanos, CA, Georghiou, K and Skarou, F (1989) Glaucium flavum seed germination: an ecophysiological approach. Annals of Applied Botany 63, 121–130.Google Scholar
Thanos, CA, Georghiou, K, Dimitra, JD and Marangaki, CJ (1991) Photoinhibition of seed germination in Mediterranean maritime plants. Annals of Botany 68, 469–475.Google Scholar
Thanos, CA, Costas, CK and Skarou, F (1995) Ecophysiology of germination in the aromatic plants thyme, savory and oregano (Labiatae). Seed Science Research 5, 161–170.Google Scholar
Tompsett, PB and Kemp, R (1996) DABATTS, Database of Tropical tree seeds research with special reference to the Dipterocarpaceae, Meliaceae and Araucariaceae. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK.Google Scholar
Trudgill, DL, Squire, GR and Thompson, K (2000) A thermal time basis for comparing the germination requirements of some British herbaceous plants. New Phytologist 145, 107–114.Google Scholar
Trudgill, DL, Honek, A, Li, D and Van Straalen, NM (2005) Thermal time – concepts and utility. Annals of Applied Biology 146, 1–14.Google Scholar
Tudela-Isanta, M, Ladouceur, E, Wijayasinghe, M, Pritchard, HW and Mondoni, A (2018) The seed germination niche limits the distribution of some plant species in calcareous or siliceous alpine bedrocks. Alpine Botany 128, 83–95.Google Scholar
Valladares, F and Sánchez-Gómez, D (2006) Ecophysiological traits associated with drought in Mediterranean tree seedlings: individual responses versus interspecific trends in eleven species. Plant Biology 8, 688–697.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Picciau et al. supplementary material

Appendix 1

Download Picciau et al. supplementary material(File)
File 270.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Picciau et al. supplementary material

Appendix 2

Download Picciau et al. supplementary material(File)
File 183.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Picciau et al. supplementary material

Appendix 3

Download Picciau et al. supplementary material(File)
File 110.1 KB