Publication of germination data for Austrian collections

Publication of germination data for Austrian collections

By the joint effort of all partners in this project, 597 Alpine species were collected and sent to the Millennium Seed Bank, to be archived. Out of this pool, the two Austrian partners collected 255 species in the European Eastern Alps.

Checking the seed germination success before archiving seeds in a seedbank, is a necessary step for a valuable conservation. Hence, a germination test was applied using the standard protocol of the Innsbruck Lab.

Some examples of seeds and seedlings of tested species from top left clockwise to bottom left: Seed of Silene exscapa; seedling of Silene exscapa; seeds of Leucanthemopsis alpina; seedling of Leucanthemopsis alpina; seedling of Minuartia sedoides; seeds of Minuartia sedoides; seedling of Poa alpina; seedling of Saxifraga cernua. Pictures were taken under a digital microscope; credit to Pernfuß B.
Fig. 1 of the publication showing the classifications of the species made in the study and numbers of species per class. For further information see the publication.

The results of these tests are pooled in a publication entitled “Pros and cons of using a standard protocol to test germination of alpine species”, which was published in “Plant Ecology”.

Find the open access article here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01061-w

Margreiter, V., Pagitz, K., Berg, C. et al. Pros and cons of using a standard protocol to test germination of alpine species. Plant Ecol 221, 1045–1067 (2020).