Data from: Species-specific germination responses to fire-associated heat of elephant-dispersed seeds in Nimule National Park, South Sudan

Fire‐related heat and endozoochory by elephants have independently been found to be important for savanna plant seed germination, yet there is little information on how heat affects germination of elephant‐dispersed seeds. We measured the germination behavior (time to germination and proportion of seeds germinating) of 11 species of seeds extracted from African savanna elephant dung and subjected them to various intensities of heat as a proxy for fire exposure. The effects of heat were inconsistent and varied significantly by species, with some species having increased time to germination in response to heat and others having reduced time to germination. More studies are needed to expand the number of seed species examined and tease apart the interaction between elephant‐mediated endozoochory and fire.已有研究证实，野火相关热胁迫与大象介导的体内种子传播（endozoochory）均可独立影响稀树草原（savanna）植物的种子萌发，但目前关于热胁迫如何影响经大象传播的种子萌发的相关研究仍较为匮乏。本研究针对从非洲稀树草原大象粪便中提取的11个物种的种子，测定其萌发行为（涵盖萌发时长与萌发率两项核心指标），并通过设置不同强度的热胁迫以模拟野火暴露对种子的影响。结果显示，热胁迫的效应并不一致，且因物种不同存在显著差异：部分物种的种子萌发时长随热胁迫升高而延长，另有部分物种的萌发时长则随之缩短。未来仍需开展更多研究，以扩大受试种子物种的覆盖范围，并厘清大象介导的体内种子传播与野火之间的交互作用。