Dipartimento di Ecologia del Territorio, University of Pavia, Via S. Epifanio 14, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.
Ann Bot. 2011 Jan;107(1):171-9. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcq222. Epub 2010 Nov 16.
Alpine plants are considered one of the groups of species most sensitive to the direct and indirect threats to ecosystems caused by land use and climate change. Collecting and banking seeds of plant species is recognized as an effective tool for providing propagating material to re-establish wild plant populations and for habitat repair. However, seeds from cold wet environments have been shown to be relatively short lived in storage, and therefore successful long-term seed conservation for alpine plants may be difficult. Here, the life spans of 69 seed lots representing 63 related species from alpine and lowland locations from northern Italy are compared.
Seeds were placed into experimental storage at 45 °C and 60 % relative humidity (RH) and regularly sampled for germination. The time taken in storage for viability to fall to 50 % (p(50)) was determined using probit analysis and used as a measure of relative seed longevity between seed lots.
Across species, p(50) at 45 °C and 60 % RH varied from 4·7 to 95·5 d. Seed lots from alpine populations/species had significantly lower p(50) values compared with those from lowland populations/species; the lowland seed lots showed a slower rate of loss of germinability, higher initial seed viability, or both. Seeds were progressively longer lived with increased temperature and decreased rainfall at the collecting site.
Seeds of alpine plants are short lived in storage compared with those from lowland populations/related taxa. The lower resistance to ageing in seeds of alpine plants may arise from low selection pressure for seed resistance to ageing and/or damage incurred during seed development due to the cool wet conditions of the alpine climate. Long-term seed conservation of several alpine species using conventional seed banking methods will be problematic.
高山植物被认为是对由于土地利用和气候变化而对生态系统造成的直接和间接威胁最为敏感的物种群体之一。收集和储存植物种子被认为是为重新建立野生植物种群和修复生境提供繁殖材料的有效工具。然而，来自寒冷潮湿环境的种子在储存中已经表现出相对较短的寿命，因此，高山植物的成功长期种子保存可能是困难的。在这里，比较了来自意大利北部高山和低地地区的 63 个相关物种的 69 个种子批的寿命。
将种子置于 45°C 和 60%相对湿度（RH）的实验储存中，并定期进行发芽取样。使用概率分析确定活力下降到 50%（p(50)）所需的储存时间，并将其用作种子批之间相对种子寿命的衡量标准。
在物种间，45°C 和 60% RH 下的 p(50)值从 4.7 到 95.5d 不等。来自高山种群/物种的种子批的 p(50)值明显低于来自低地种群/物种的种子批；低地种子批的发芽能力损失速度较慢，初始种子活力较高，或两者兼有。随着收集地点温度升高和降雨量减少，种子的寿命逐渐延长。
与来自低地种群/相关分类群的种子相比，高山植物的种子在储存中寿命较短。高山植物种子对老化的抗性较低，可能是由于对老化和/或在高山气候凉爽潮湿的条件下种子发育过程中所受损伤的种子抗性的选择压力较低所致。使用传统的种子库方法对几种高山物种进行长期种子保存将是有问题的。
