Germination on alpine snow-bed plant species under controlled conditions

The probability of germination is closely connected to the seasonal timing. Seed dormancy, substantial environmental influence and plant hormones define the conditions, in which a seed is able to germinate. Germination plays a decisive role in herbs in particular in fragmented high mountain habitats, where germination success extremely variable and seedling mortality is high. In this study, the germination behaviour of ten snow-bed species of the North-Eastern Calcareous Alps of Austria was studied under controlled laboratory conditions. Based on a factorial experimental design the effects of (a) the duration of dormancy, (b) frost stratification, (c) pre-treatment with gibberellic acid and (d) the effect of seed size on germination pace were analysed. The studied snow-bed species can achieve a high germination rate under controlled laboratory conditions. Single treatment with gibberrellic acid significantly enhances germination, but this effect becomes weak or even reversed during the consecutive developmental phases. Short periods of frost do not significantly affect germination and early seedling development of the study species. Seed size does not significantly affect germinability. A cool and dry storage of seeds of several months obviously suffices to break dormancy for most species. The results of this study may be essential for further investigations in the field.