caa a22 4500 463218418 CHVBK 20180405153204.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170326e20070301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11056-006-9021-8 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11056-006-9021-8 Variation of seed mass and its effects on germination in Polylepis australis [Elektronische Daten] implications for seed collection [Peggy Seltmann, Ilona Leyer, Daniel Renison, Isabell Hensen] South American Polylepis mountain forests are recognised as being one of the most endangered forest ecosystems in the world. Reforestation measures have been strongly recommended but may be hampered due to the very low seed germination reported for several Polylepis species. In order to facilitate reforestation we analysed the influence of seed mass on germination probability for Polylepis australis seeds in the Córdoba mountains (central Argentina). We collected seeds from 43 trees distributed throughout five woodland fragments located within two regions differing in size, topographical position, and altitude (1,900m a.s.l. and 2,200m a.s.l.). Seeds of Polylepis australis exhibited a great variation in terms of mass and percent seed germination among individual trees and among geographical regions. The results of logistic regression showed that germination probability was highly correlated with seed mass. However, the explained deviance significantly increased by including the region, the woodland fragment and especially the individual tree in addition to seed mass in the regression models. We conclude that selecting seeds on the basis of mass is an appropriate way to enhance germination prospects for reforestation projects. However, no absolute mass values are applicable in this context as the highest germination probabilities were reached at varying seed mass values depending on geographical region, woodland fragment or individual tree. We suggest collecting the relatively heaviest available seeds, even though the absolute seed mass may be low. Springer Science+Business Media, Inc., 2006 Argentina nationallicence Logistic regression nationallicence Mountain woodlands nationallicence Polylepis australis nationallicence Reforestation nationallicence Seed germination nationallicence Seed mass nationallicence Seltmann Peggy Institute of Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108, Halle/Saale, Germany aut Leyer Ilona Department of Biology, Conservation Biology, Philipps-University Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Straße 8, 35032, Marburg, Germany aut Renison Daniel Cátedra de Ecología General, National University of Córdoba, Av. V. Sarsfield 299, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina aut Hensen Isabell Institute of Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108, Halle/Saale, Germany aut New Forests Kluwer Academic Publishers 33/2(2007-03-01), 171-181 0169-4286 33:2<171 2007 33 11056 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-006-9021-8 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-006-9021-8 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Seltmann Peggy Institute of Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108, Halle/Saale, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Leyer Ilona Department of Biology, Conservation Biology, Philipps-University Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Straße 8, 35032, Marburg, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Renison Daniel Cátedra de Ecología General, National University of Córdoba, Av. V. Sarsfield 299, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hensen Isabell Institute of Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108, Halle/Saale, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- New Forests Kluwer Academic Publishers 33/2(2007-03-01), 171-181 0169-4286 33:2<171 2007 33 11056 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer