DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwzx
title: Seed dormancy types and germination response of 15 plant species in temperate montane peatlands

description: Despite their crucial role in determining the fate of seeds, the type and
 breaking mode of seed dormancy in peatland plants in temperate Asia with a
 continental monsoon climate are rarely known. Fifteen common peatland
 plant species were used to test their seed germination response to various
 dormancy-breaking treatments, including dry storage (D), gibberellin acid
 soaking (GA), cold stratification (CS), warm followed cold stratification
 (WCS), GA soaking + cold stratification (GA+CS) and GA soaking + warm
 followed cold stratification (GA+WCS). Germination experiment, viability
 and imbibition test, and morphological observation of embryos were
 conducted. Of the 15 species, nine showed physiological dormancy (PD),
 with non-deep PD being the dominant type. Four species, Angelica
 pubescens, Cicuta virosa, Iris laevigata and Iris setosa exhibited
 morphological physiological dormancy. Two species, Lycopus uniflorus and
 Spiraea salicifolia, demonstrated non-dormancy of seeds. Overall, the
 effect hierarchy of dormancy-breaking is: CS &gt; GA &gt; WCS
 &gt; GA+CS &gt; D &gt; GA+WCS. Principal component analysis
 demonstrated that seed traits, including embryo length: seed length ratio,
 seed size, and monocot/eudicot divergence, are more likely to influence
 seed dormancy than environmental factors. Our study suggests that nearly
 90% of the tested peatland plant species in the Changbai Mountains
 demonstrated seed dormancy, and seed traits (e.g. embryo to seed ratio and
 seed size) and abiotic environmental factors (e.g. pH and temperature
 seasonality) are related to germination behavior, suggesting seed dormancy
 being a common adaptation strategy for the peatland plants in the
 temperate montane environment.
description: All statistical analyses were conducted in R v 4.2.3. Generalized
 Linear Models (GLMs) were used to analyze the effect of dormancy-breaking
 treatments (explained factor) on germination (GP on the 28th day,
 dependent factor). The significance of factors for each experiment was
 assessed by Wald Chi-Square statistics to the model. Duncan's test
 was used for multiple comparisons. The difference between germination
 percentage of control and initial viability was determined by
 Mann-Whitney-U-tests, to determine whether the seeds were dormant or not.
 Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to reduce and visualize the
 variability in the species’ seed germination response and to
 intercorrelations among seed traits or environmental factors. The PCA was
 carried out with the package ‘FactoMineR’ using the variance-covariance
 matrix. The signiﬁcance level was set to α = 0.05.
description: # Seed dormancy types and germination response of 15 plant species in
 temperate montane peatlands 
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwzx](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwzx) These are dormancy and germination of 15 plant species in temperate montane peatlands data from Wang et al. 2024. The data are in five parts: germination percentage data, PCA data, mean germination time, imbibition data, and geographic latitude and longitude data of the collection site. The germination percentage data, PCA data, mean germination time and imbibition data include 15 species, namely *A. pubescens*, *B. ovalifolia*, *C. limosa*, *C. virosa*, *H. longistylum*, *I. laevigata*, *I. setosa*, *L. sessilifolia*, *L. uniflorus*, *L. thysiflora*, *L. salicaria*, *P. grandiflora*, *S. palustris*, *S. salicifolia*, *V. uliginosum*, obtained on 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. The geographic latitude and longitude data are from five peatlands where seeds were collected. **Corresponding author information:** Zhao-Jun Bu [buzhaojun@nenu.edu.cn](mailto:buzhaojun@nenu.edu.cn) School of Geographical Sciences Northeast Normal University This dataset includes five components: germination percentage data, PCA data, mean germination time, imbibition data, and geographic latitude and longitude data. For the germination percentage data, the effect of the dormancy-breaking treatments on the germination percentage was analyzed, and Wald Chi-Square statistics assessed the significance of factors for each experiment to the model. The PCA data was used to reduce and visualize the variability in the species’ seed germination response and intercorrelations among seed traits and/or environmental factors. For the mean germination time, Duncan's test was used for multiple comparisons. The imbibition test to determine if the seed coat could not absorb water and hence limit germination. The geographical data of the five collection sites were used to prepare a sample map of the study area and to obtain data on annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, temperature seasonality, and precipitation seasonality for each peatland. ## **List of files** This is a brief list of all the files in this dataset. For more details on each file, see the last section of this document, “Descriptions of data”. * GP.xlsx. Germination percentage data. Contains 0-28 days data of 15 species under control and 6 treatments. * PCA.csv. Data used for PCA analysis. Collect the monocot/eudicot divergence of 15 plant species, E:S ratio and size of the seed, water table depth, pH, annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, temperature seasonality, and precipitation seasonality of each peatland. And the data on seed germination percentage under different treatments. * MGT.csv. Mean germination time data. Contains data on 15 species under control and 6 different treatments. * imbibition test.csv. Seed water imbibition data. The water-absorbed seeds were weighed once at 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours. * latitude_and_longitude_data.csv. The geographical data of the five collection sites. GPS points were recorded. ## **Usage notes** The CSV and xlsx files are spreadsheets that can be accessed with, for example, LibreOffice. ## **Descriptions of data** All the data are from 15 vascular plant species collected from five peatlands in the Changbai Mountains of northeastern China. All the data were collected in 2021. #### Details on germination percentage data **GP.xlsx** Contains 15 sheets with species names abbreviations, with these variables: * **GD (%):** Germination percentage of seeds on the 0-28th day. * **Treatment:** Dormancy-breaking treatments. * **Time (d):** Days of seed incubation. * **Group:** Repeat the number of Petri dishes. #### Details on PCA data **PCA.csv** Contains 18 columns: * **Group:** Abbreviations of 15 species names. * **Species:** Abbreviations of 15 species names, and their repeat the number of Petri dishes. * **Monocot/Eudicot:** monocot/eudicot divergence of 15 plant species. * **E: S:** E:S ratio of the seed. * **Seed Size (mg):** 100 recently collected air-dried seeds were weighed individually (for seeds weighing &gt;1 mg) or divided into eight groups of 100 seeds each (for seeds weighing &lt;1 mg). * **WTD (cm):** Water table depth for the typical habitat of each species was determined by measuring the vertical distance from the peatland surface to the water table level using a tape measure. Measurement of values were collected from five typical habitats for each species more than five apart in the peatlands. * **pH:** Water pH was determined by averaging values of repeated measurements three times in the nearest surface water. Measurement of values were collected from five typical habitats for each species more than five apart in the peatlands. * **AP (mm):** Used the WorldClim database to obtain data on annual precipitation.  * **AMT (°C):** Used the WorldClim database to obtain data on annual mean temperature * **TS:** Used the WorldClim database to obtain data on temperature seasonality. * **PS:** Used the WorldClim database to obtain data on precipitation seasonality. * **CK:** The data on seed germination percentage under the control. * **D:** The data on seed germination percentage under dry storage treatment. * **GA:** The data on seed germination percentage under GA soaking treatment. * **CS:** The data on seed germination percentage under cold stratification treatment. * **GA+CS:** The data on seed germination percentage under GA soaking + cold stratification treatment. * **WS:** The data on seed germination percentage under warm stratification treatment. * **GA+WS:** The data on seed germination percentage under GA soaking + warm + cold stratification treatment. #### Details on mean germination time data **MGT.csv** Contains three columns: * **Species:** Numbers 1-15 correspond to 15 species respectively: *A. pubescens*, *B. ovalifolia*, *C. limosa*, *C. virosa*, *H. longistylum*, *I. laevigata*, *I. setosa*, *L. sessilifolia*, *L. uniflorus*, *L. thysiflora*, *L. salicaria*, *P. grandiflora*, *S. palustris*, *S. salicifolia*, *V. uliginosum*. * **treatment:** Numbers 1-7 correspond to 7 dormancy-breaking treatments respectively: CK, D, GA, CS, GA+CS, WS, and GA+WS. * **Mean germination time (d):** Mean germination time of seeds. #### Details on imbibition data **imbibition test.csv** Contains three columns: * **Species:** Numbers 1-15 correspond to 15 species respectively: *A. pubescens*, *B. ovalifolia*, *C. limosa*, *C. virosa*, *H. longistylum*, *I. laevigata*, *I. setosa*, *L. sessilifolia*, *L. uniflorus*, *L. thysiflora*, *L. salicaria*, *P. grandiflora*, *S. palustris*, *S. salicifolia*, *V. uliginosum*. * **time (h):** Seed weighing time. * **weight increase (%):** The weight of seeds increased at 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours. #### Details on geographic latitude and longitude data **latitude_and\_ longitude_data.csv** Contains four columns: * **ID:** Serial number of the peatland. * **site:** Name of the peatland. * **lat:** Latitude. * **lon:** Longitude.