Maternal influences on seed mass effect and initial seedling growth in four Quercus species

Divergent regeneration responses of two closely related tree species to direct abiotic and indirect biotic effects of climate change

“…The lack of a pattern related with the temperature experienced by the mother tree, is surprising because generally the environmental conditions experienced by the mother tree affect early establishment and growth variables, including seed mass, viability and seed germination and seedling biomass (see Verheyen et al, 2009;González-Rodríguez et al, 2011). Moreover, the influence of the temperature experienced by the mother plant is speciesspecific ) and, in some species, the influence of the conditions experienced by the mother tree on seed germination and seedling growth can change over time (Carón et al, 2014b).…”

“…First, the prevalent climatic conditions experienced by the mother tree may influence seed size, quality, germination and seedlings performance (Carón et al, 2014a;De Frenne et al, 2011b;González-Rodríguez et al, 2011). Second, early establishment and seedlings' growth are also highly dependent on the seed bed conditions such as temperature and precipitation (e.g.…”

Spatio-temporal heterogeneity effects on seedling growth and establishment in four Quercus species

“…Seedmass represents the amount of reserves available for growth development in the first stages of seedling development. A larger seed-mass is related to a larger seedling biomass González-Rodríguez et al 2010), which confers some advantages on seedling establishment (Hendrix et al 1991;Chacón and Bustamante 2001).…”

“…Seedling growth rates are very often influenced by environmental factors (Poorter 2001;Villar et al 2008); therefore, changes in such factors along spatial and temporal gradients might lead to the presence of areas with bigger or faster growing seedlings. In addition to environmental factors, some intrinsic traits such as seed mass determines early seedling performance (González-Rodríguez et al 2010Pérez-Ramos et al 2010), especially on large-seeded species growing in unfavourable environments (Leishman and Westoby 1994). Experiments that evaluate seedling growth have been typically carried out under controlled conditions, and field experiments often limit growth measures only to seedling height (Beckage and Clark 2003;Laliberté et al 2008).…”

Genetic diversity and forest reproductive material - from seed source selection to planting

“…There is also a strong positive relationship with seedling attributes such as size and survival (St Clair & Adams 1993, Cicek & Tilki 2007, González-Rodríguez et al 2011), but it weakens with time (Carles et al 2009). However, although large seeds can provide rapid and successful germination and early seedlings growth, this is not necessarily related to the embryos genetic potential for growth (Schmidt 2000).…”