Effects of storage on seed germination and viability for three native tree species of Ecuador
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Effects of storage on seed germination and viability for three native tree species of Ecuador Ximena Palomeque1 · Claudia Patiño Uyaguari1 · Franklin Marín1 · Mishel Palacios1 · Bernd Stimm2 Received: 3 January 2020 / Accepted: 31 July 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Many forests restoration programs and efforts depend on seeds. Particularly in the Andes, further information regarding seed germination requirements and seed storage behavior is necessary. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of storage conditions on the germination percentage, the viability and the coefficient of velocity of germination for seeds of three native tree species (Cedrela montana, Weinmannia fagaroides and Oreocallis grandiflora). Under controlled conditions, the seeds were exposed to three levels of seed moisture content and storage temperatures (5 °C, 10 °C and room temperature at approx. 19 °C) for 3, 6 and 12 months. The results showed that at 3–6 months of seed storage under temperatures of 5 and 10 °C, the seeds had a high percentage of germination, viability and germination speed for C. montana and W. fagaroides compared to those stored at room temperature. At 12 months of storage, there was a marked reduction in seed germination in all treatments for both species. Furthermore, the seed germination and viability of O. grandiflora was not influenced by any of the above storage treatments. However, at the end of the experiment a slight decrease was observed, hence this species might be tolerant to medium- and long-term storage conditions. Though limited to just three co-occurring species, the study provided insight into the variability in responses to storage, with preliminary indications of appropriate storage conditions to maximize storability of seeds for restoration programs. Importantly, the study demonstrated the need for empirical testing of storage responses (temperature and duration) of seeds before subjecting untested species to a particular storage regime. Keywords Ex situ conservation · Seed storage behavior · Desiccation tolerance · Seed management · Reforestation · Andes
Introduction Globally, tropical mountain forests are under pressure from deforestation, land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation (Soh et al. 2019). This is problematic, considering that most montane tropical forests are in biodiversity hotspots with high levels of endemism (Mittermeier et al. 2011). Thus, there is a growing need to collect and store seeds of forest tree species for subsequent restoration programs to achieve Communicated by van der Maaten. * Ximena Palomeque [email protected] 1
Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Departamento de Recursos Hídricos Y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
Research Department Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management in Mountain Landscapes, TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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