Climate shapes the seed germination niche of temperate flowering plants: a meta-analysis of European seed conservation data.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Interactions between ecological factors and seed physiological responses during the establishment phase shape the distribution of plants. Yet, our understanding of the functions and evolution of early-life traits has been limited by the scarcity of large-scale datasets. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the germination niche of temperate plants is shaped by their climatic requirements and phylogenetic relatedness, using germination data sourced from a comprehensive seed conservation database of the European flora (ENSCOBASE).

Methods

We performed a phylogenetically informed Bayesian meta-analysis of primary data, considering 18 762 germination tests of 2418 species from laboratory experiments conducted across all European geographical regions. We tested

SUBMITTER: Carta A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9292614 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature