Effects of primary seed dormancy on life-time fitness of Arabidopsis thaliana in the field

Background and Aims Seed dormancy determines the environmental niche of plants in seasonal environments, and has consequences for plant performance that potentially go far beyond the seed and seedling stages. In this study, we examined the cascading effects of seed dormancy on the expression of subsequent life-history traits and fitness in the annual herb Arabidopsis thaliana. 
Methods We planted seeds of >200 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from a cross between two locally adapted populations (Italy and Sweden), and both parental genotypes at the native site of the Swedish population in three consecutive years. We quantified the relationship between primary seed dormancy and the expression of subsequent life-history traits and fitness in the RIL population with path analysis. To examine effects of differences in dormancy on relative fitness of the two parental genotypes, we planted dormant seeds during the seed dispersal period and non-dormant seeds during the germination pe...