Among the early metabolic activities occurring in the seed is the breakdown of starches stored in the seed into simple sugars that can be used for energy and building blocks for necessary cellular structures. Except for the first half-hour or so of germination when little oxygen is present, seed germination and subsequent seedling growth requires oxygen. A suitable temperature is necessary to optimize the metabolic reactions required for germination. A seed that has not germinated because it is lacking one or more of the necessary requirements for germination is termed quiescent. However, even if given the proper conditions, a seed may not germinate.
Dormant seeds have the potential to germinate but are prevented from doing so by some mechanism.
There are many dormancy mechanisms in seeds. Other seeds, like apple, require a cold treatment, called stratification, for germination. Many of our native plant seeds must be stratified. Ultimately, the function of these varied dormancy mechanisms is to enable the seed time to disperse from the parent plant and to avoid germinating during unfavorable weather. Humans have attempted to breed dormancy mechanisms from our crop plants.