Shikang Shen, Fuqin Wu, Yuehua Wang
School of life sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming No. 2 Green lake North road Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, the People's Republic of China.
Sci Rep. 2015 Jun 25;5:11615. doi: 10.1038/srep11615.
Plant-frugivore mutualism serves an important function in multiple ecological processes. Although previous studies have highlighted the effect of frugivore gut passage on fresh seed germinability, no study has investigated the effect on seed storage after frugivore gut passage. We used the endangered plant, Euryodendron excelsum, to determine the combined effects of frugivore gut passage and storage conditions on the germination percentage and rate of seeds. In particular, three treatments that included storage periods, storage methods, and seed types were designed in the experiment. We hypothesized that seeds that passed through the gut will exhibit enhanced germination capacity and rate during storage. Results showed that the final germination percentage decreased in seeds that passed through the gut, whereas the germination rate increased during seed storage. Germination decreased in most types of seeds under both dry and wet storage after 6 months compared with storage after 1 and 3 months. The results suggest that after frugivore gut passage, E. excelsum seeds cannot form persistent soil seed bank in the field, and were not suitable for species germplasm storage. These finding underscore that seeds that passed through frugivore gut have long-term impact on their viability and germination performance.
植物-食果动物共生关系在多个生态过程中发挥着重要作用。尽管先前的研究强调了食果动物肠道通过对新鲜种子发芽能力的影响，但尚无研究调查食果动物肠道通过后对种子储存的影响。我们以濒危植物猪血木为研究对象，来确定食果动物肠道通过和储存条件对种子发芽率和发芽速率的综合影响。具体而言，实验设计了包括储存期、储存方法和种子类型的三种处理方式。我们假设经过肠道的种子在储存期间将表现出更高的发芽能力和速率。结果表明，经过肠道的种子最终发芽率降低，而种子储存期间发芽速率增加。与储存1个月和3个月后相比，6个月后，大多数类型的种子在干藏和湿藏条件下的发芽率均下降。结果表明，经过食果动物肠道后的猪血木种子在田间无法形成持久的土壤种子库，且不适用于物种种质储存。这些发现强调，经过食果动物肠道的种子对其活力和发芽表现具有长期影响。
