Climate variability is expected to increase due to climate change, with projected increases in temperature and erratic rainfall patterns. These changes will alter the environmental cues sensed by seeds, and therefore will impact plant recruitment. This study investigated the effects of seed functional traits (germinability, germination time, synchrony and seed mass) on germination responses of several sub-tropical native Australian plant species under different environmental factors (water stress, salinity and pH). The effect of a hot water pre-treatment was also tested on Fabaceae seeds with known physical dormancy. Seed traits, environmental factors and seed pre-treatments had significant effects on final germination percentage and germination time. Seed mass and time to 50% germination (t50) were also positively correlated. In contrast, pH did not affect germination and there was no interaction between pH and any of the measured seed functional traits. Some species showed a high thermal tolerance to germination and germination was indifferent to light conditions for all species. Results showed that certain seed functional traits interact with environmental factors to influence germination percentage and time. These findings highlight the importance of considering seed functional traits when determining a species germination response under a changing climate. In addition, the findings provide important knowledge to better guide seed-based land restoration programmes.

中文翻译：

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种子功能性状与环境因素的相互作用及其对澳大利亚本土物种发芽性能的影响

由于气候变化，预计气温升高和降雨模式不稳定，气候变异性预计将增加。这些变化将改变种子感知的环境信号，从而影响植物的补充。本研究研究了不同环境因素（水分胁迫、盐度和 pH 值）下种子功能性状（发芽率、发芽时间、同步性和种子质量）对澳大利亚几种亚热带本土植物物种发芽反应的影响。还对具有已知物理休眠状态的豆科种子测试了热水预处理的效果。种子性状、环境因素和种子预处理对最终发芽率和发芽时间有显着影响。种子质量和 50% 发芽时间（t50) 也呈正相关。相比之下，pH 值不影响发芽，并且 pH 值与任何测量的种子功能性状之间不存在相互作用。一些物种对发芽表现出较高的热耐受性，并且所有物种的发芽对光照条件均不敏感。结果表明，某些种子功能性状与环境因素相互作用，影响发芽率和时间。这些发现强调了在确定气候变化下物种萌发反应时考虑种子功能性状的重要性。此外，研究结果还为更好地指导基于种子的土地恢复计划提供了重要知识。