Elevation and phylogeny shape herbaceous seed dormancy in a biodiversity hotspot of southwest China

Seed dormancy contributes greatly to successful establishment and community stability and shows large variation over a continuous status scale in mountain ecosystems. Although empirical studies have shown that seed dormancy status (SDS) is shaped by elevation and phylogenetic history in mountain ecosystems, few studies have quantified their combined effects on SDS. Here, we collected mature seeds from 51 populations of 11 Impatiens species (Balsaminaceae) along an elevational gradient in the Gaoligong Mountains of southwest China and estimated SDS using mean dormancy percentage of fresh seeds germinated at three constant temperatures (15, 20, and 25 °C). We downloaded 19 bioclimatic variables from WorldClim v.2.1 for each Impatiens population and used internal transcribed spacer (ITS), atpB-rbcL, and trnL-F molecular sequences from the GenBank nucleotide database to construct a phylogenetic tree of the 11 species of Impatiens. Logistic regression model analysis was performed to quantify..., ,