Agenda

Shivam Sharma Kumar, Jawaharlal Nehru University (India)

Abstract:
Germination is a strongly temperature-dependent process, however, the effects of climate change on plant regeneration from seeds are mostly unclear. The present seminar focuses on seed germination responses of Ammophila arenaria and Elymus farctus, the main engineering species of European dune systems, whose disappearing is expected to have severe consequences on the whole system. To account for intra-specific variability, seeds were collected from different populations across the species distribution range in Europe (Spiekeroog, DE; Bordeaux, FR; Valencia, ES; Cagliari, IT, Rome, IT; Venice, IT). Main findings showed that germination of the target species depends on temperature seasonal changes (seeds exposure to winter temperatures followed by spring temperature). However, germination responses of seeds from different populations differed in the width of thermal window and thermal stress, suggesting that climate change can have different effects on reproduction from seeds across the species distribution range. Focusing on the effect of climate change on species regeneration from seeds allows to better forecast interactions and feedbacks between ecological processes and climate change and to develop appropriate strategies for biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation.