For each vegetation region, seed dormancy and dormancy-life form profiles are based on a composite of information generated from studies conducted at many locations within the vegetation type. The question rose whether the seed dormancy-life form profiles would be the same if data from a specific area as opposed to data compiled from many locations in the same type of vegetation in various parts of the world are considered?
Researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) conducted seed dormancy studies on seeds of 182 trees, 65 shrubs, 58 vines and 55 herbs growing in the semi-evergreen (seasonal) tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna, southern Yunnan, China.
They specifically observed the proportion of species with nondormant seeds and with each of the five classes of dormancy. They further tested whether occurrence of nondormant and of the different classes of dormancy is correlated with life form.
In the case of the Xishuangbanna seasonal tropical rainforest, the researchers found that seed dormancy or seed dormancy-life form profile based on a large number of species from a specific area differed considerably from the one constructed using data from sites throughout the range of the type of vegetation
However, the greater importance of physiological dormancy than of nondormancy and of other classes of dormancy is true for both the Xishuangbanna species and the world data set for seasonal tropical rainforest.
Physiological dormancy was more important than nondormancy in all life forms. physical dormancy was highest in shrubs. Morphological dormancy was not important in any life form and morphophysiological dormancy was most common for herb and vines.
The study entitled “Seed dormancy-life form profile for 358 species from the Xishuangbanna seasonal tropical rainforest, Yunnan Province, China compared to world database” has been published in Scientific Reports.
Contact
LAN Qinying
Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
E-mail: lqy@xtbg.org.cn
