DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhxz
title: Data from: Persistent inner tepals and wings protect developing seeds of Rheum nanum from insect herbivory in Central Asian cold deserts

description: Although the post-dispersal functions of diaspore (fruit and its
 appendages) have been reported, little is known about their
 protective/defensive functions. In this context, Rheum nanum diaspores
 with appendages (persistent inner tepals and/or fruit wings) that
 experienced pre-dispersal herbivory by insects in natural populations
 of Rheum nanum were investigated, i.e., the percentage of
 diaspores with appendages damaged by insects; The data of the seed
 abortion percentage, seed and embryo masses, and germination of seeds from
 diaspores with different categories of insect herbivory of R.
 nanum.  These experimental indices were used to answer the
 following questions:  (1) How prevalent is pre-dispersal insect
 herbivory in natural populations of R. nanum? (2) Do seeds abort when
 diaspores receive pre-dispersal insect herbivory?  (3) What are
 the impacts of pre-dispersal insect herbivory on seed mass and germination
 of R. nanum?
description: Investigate the diaspores with appendages (persistent inner
 tepals and/or fruit wings) that experienced pre-dispersal herbivory by
 insects in natural populations of <em>Rheum nanum;</em>
 measure and compare the seed abortion percentage, seed and embryo masses,
 and germination of seeds from diaspores with different categories of
 insect herbivory.  All data were expressed as the mean
 ± SE. To meet the requirements of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA),
 all data were analyzed for normality and homogeneity of variance before
 analysis. If data were normal and homogeneous, they were subjected to
 further analysis. If data exhibited a nonnormal distribution or variances
 were not homogeneous, treatment differences were assessed by using the
 more conservative Kruskal‒Wallis nonparametric test.
 The Kruskal‒Wallis nonparametric test was used to determine if
 there were differences in the percentage of diaspores with different
 categories of insect herbivory in natural populations, seed abortion in
 diaspores with different categories of insect herbivory and the effect of
 pre-dispersal insect herbivory on seed development. A
 generalized linear model (GLM) with a logit-link function with germination
 as a binomial response variable (two categories: germinated versus
 non-germinated) was used to test the significance of the main effects
 (temperature and light) and their interaction on germination in ‘seed
 germination of freshly-matured seeds’ experiment in SPSS 26.0 (SPSS Inc.,
 Chicago, IL, U.S.A.). The significance of the effects of temperature,
 light, and their interaction in the model was tested by Wald
 χ<sup>2</sup> values. The least significant
 difference (LSD) test was performed for multiple comparisons to determine
 significant (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) differences among
 categories of insect herbivory, in which the <em>P</em> value
 was adjusted by Bonferroni correction. All data analyses except those from
 the ‘seed germination of freshly-matured seeds’ experiment were performed
 with R 4.2.2 software (R Development Core Team, 2022).
description: # Data from: Persistent inner tepals and wings protect developing seeds of
 *Rheum nanum* from insect herbivory in Central Asian cold deserts
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhxz](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhxz) *Rheum nanum* diaspores with appendages (persistent inner tepals and/or fruit wings) that experienced pre-dispersal herbivory by insects in natural populations of *Rheum nanum* were investigated, i.e., the percentage of diaspores with appendages damaged by insects; The data of the seed abortion percentage, seed and embryo masses, and germination of seeds from diaspores with different categories of insect herbivory of *R. nanum.* ## Description of the data and file structure The data of *Rheum nanum* include the percentage of diaspores damaged by insects (Worksheets named HerbivoryPercentageP1, HerbivoryPercentageP2, HerbivoryPercentageP3, and HerbivoryPercentageP4), seed abortion percentage (Worksheet named SeedAbortion), seed and embryo masses (Worksheet named Mass), and germination (Worksheets named Germination, FreshGermination and FreshGerminationGLM) of seeds from diaspores with different categories of insect herbivory. ## Code/Software Data were performed with R 4.2.2 software (R Development Core Team, 2022). All packages are very common in R, there are no special points to explain. ## Units Mass: g Germination: % Time for FreshGermination: days ## Variables I: intact diaspores T: diaspores with damaged persistent inner tepals W: diaspores with damaged wings TW: diaspores with damaged both persistent inner tepals and wings TP: diaspores with damaged both persistent inner tepals and pericarp TWP: diaspores with damaged persistent inner tepals, wings, and pericarp