Geographical and inter-annual patterns of seed viability in the threatened cold desert perennial Ivesia webberi A. Gray, and the prospect of non-destructive seed testing methods

Seed banking is an ex situ conservation method for preserving the genetic diversity of threatened plant species, but it may be unsuitable for the estimated one-third of threatened plant species that have recalcitrant storage behavior, many of which produce a small number of viable seeds. Therefore, effective seed banking require an understanding of their storage behavior, and the use of non-destructive viability testing methods to prevent cumulative reduction of stored seeds from periodic monitoring. This study examined seed viability in Ivesia webberi, a threatened Great Basin Desert forb in the United States. We investigated inter-annual and inter-population variation in seed viability, the predictive accuracy of non-destructive seed viability testing methods (seed x-ray and multispectral imaging), and the effect of seed size and storage time on seed viability. These data sets contained results of seed viability test using tetrazolium, multispectral imaging and interpretations of x-ray imagery, from 11 populations of I. webberi across three years.

种子库（Seed banking）是一种用于保存受威胁植物物种遗传多样性的迁地保护（ex situ conservation）手段，但对于约三分之一具有顽拗性贮藏特性（recalcitrant storage behavior）的受威胁植物物种而言，该手段可能并不适用——这类物种中有许多仅能产生少量有活力的种子。因此，有效开展种子库保存工作，需要先明确目标物种的贮藏特性，并采用非破坏性活力检测方法，以避免因周期性监测而导致贮藏种子的活力出现累积性下降。本研究针对美国大盆地荒漠的受威胁草本植物韦伯氏艾委陵菜（Ivesia webberi）展开了种子活力相关研究。我们调查了该物种种子活力的年际及种群间差异、非破坏性种子活力检测方法（种子X光成像与多光谱成像）的预测准确性，以及种子大小与贮藏时间对种子活力的影响。本数据集涵盖了三年间采自11个韦伯氏艾委陵菜（I. webberi）种群的样本，经四唑（tetrazolium）染色法、多光谱成像检测得到的种子活力测试结果，以及X光影像的解读数据。