Seed dormancy and germination traits of 27 species inhabiting the degraded karst mountain from central Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau: Seed mass and moisture content correlates with germination capacity

Seed dormancy and germination play an important roles in regulating germination timing and plant fitness in harsh environment, especially for fragile karst region. Broadening the knowledge regarding seed ecology of native plant species can improve local restoration management due to the increased biodiversity and success of seedling establishment, yet few studies have addressed this. We examined the dormancy types and germination responses to temperature regimes as well as light conditions of totally 27 that were dominant or common species inhabiting a degraded karst mountain from central Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and assessed the relationships between seed traits and germination index using a partial least squares regression (PLSR). Approximately 48% of the investigated species exhibited physiological dormancy, 37% exhibited nondormancy, 7% exhibited morphophysiological dormancy, 4% exhibited morphological dormancy and 4% exhibited physical dormancy. Germination behaviors occurred in 16 o...

种子休眠（seed dormancy）与萌发（germination）在调控萌发时机及恶劣环境下的植物适合度方面发挥着重要作用，对于脆弱的喀斯特地区而言尤为关键。拓宽本土植物物种的种子生态学（seed ecology）相关认知，可通过提升生物多样性与幼苗建植（seedling establishment）成功率优化当地植被恢复管理工作，但目前该领域的相关研究仍较为匮乏。本研究针对滇中高原中部一处退化喀斯特山地的27种优势或常见植物物种，考察了其休眠类型以及对温周期（temperature regimes）与光照条件的萌发响应，并采用偏最小二乘回归（partial least squares regression, PLSR）分析了种子性状（seed traits）与萌发指数（germination index）之间的关联。在所调查的物种中，约48%表现为生理休眠（physiological dormancy），37%为非休眠状态，7%为形态生理休眠（morphophysiological dormancy），4%为形态休眠（morphological dormancy），另有4%为物理休眠（physical dormancy）。16种[原文未完结]的萌发行为均有发生。