Plasticity of the thermal requirements of exotherms and adaptation to environmental conditions.

ABSTRACT:

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In exothermal organisms, temperature is an important determinant of the rate of ecophysiological processes, which monotonically increase between the minimum (t d min) and maximum (t d max) temperatures typical for each species. In insects, t d min and t d max are correlated and there is a approximately 20°C interval (thermal window W T = t d max - t d min) between them over which insects can develop. We assumed that other exotherms have similar thermal windows because the thermal kinetics of their physiological processes are similar. In this study, we determined the thermal requirements for germination in plants. Seeds of 125 species of Central European wild herbaceous and crop plants were germinated at nine constant temperatures between 5 and 37°C, and the time to germi

SUBMITTER: Honek A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4161183 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature