Bet hedging through fine-scale intraspecific variation in seed dormancy and seed germination cues in the Australian arid tropics

Interested in watching this video? You have two options:

This video is part of the SER Conference Library. If you want to learn more about this resource please see this guide.

Buy a pass

You can purchase a pass for this video on our website.

Already purchased access to this video, or want to redeem credit for a new order? Just enter your order number or email below:


SER Member?
Sign in below to get unrestricted access:



Authors:
Adam Cross

Publication Date:
2019

Abstract/Summary:
Seed biology in the annual herbaceous flora of ecologically stressful, seasonally wet habitats remains largely unexplored. Temporal and spatial species turnover among these habitats is often high, yet little is known about how fine-scale habitat variation drives intraspecific variability in seed dormancy depth and seed germination requirements. We present seed biology data from over 50 species of wetland plants from the Australian Monsoon Tropics, as well as complementary habitat data, and show that fine-scale differences in the thermal and hydrological conditions of seasonally wet habitats appear to be strong drivers of dormancy depth. Widely distributed species exhibit high levels of plasticity in seed-dormancy depth and germination response to germination stimuli such as biogenic ethylene among different habitats, with similar responses being observed for sympatric species. Sediment seed banks may represent significant drivers of species persistence and diversification in these ecosystems, and inhabitant flora display a high degree of adaptation to local hydro-geological conditions, potentially reflecting a long and relatively geologically and climatically stable evolutionary history.

Resource Type:
Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019

Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program

Source:
Society for Ecological Restoration