Journal Article

Rock n' Seeds: A database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation

Barros, Fernanda de V, de Moraes, Moemy Gomes, Garcia, Letícia Couto, Maia, Fabiano Rodrigo, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia - UFU, Feitosa, Selma dos Santos, Davide, Antônio Cláudio, Machado, Isabel Cristina, Figueiredo, Maurílio Assis, Senhuk, Ana Paula M. S, Pina, José Carlos, Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro (JBRJ), Moreira, Bruno, Silveira, Fernando, Nunes, Flávia Peres, Barreto, Leilane, Gomes, Vanessa, Silveira, Rodrigo, Ordóñez-Parra, Carlos, Carvalho, Vanessa da Cruz, Mendes-Rodrigues, Clesnan, Biodiversité, Gènes & Communautés (BioGeCo) ; Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Le Stradic, Soizig, Corredor, Blanca Auxiliadora Dugarte, Andrade, Letícia, Tonetti, Olívia Alvina Oliveira, Dayrell, Roberta, Ranal, Marli, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco [Recife] (UFPE), Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto = Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), Duarte, Alexandre, Messias, Maria Cristina T. B, Negreiros, Daniel, Oliveira, Ademir, Giorni,

2023

Overview

Advancing functional ecology depends fundamentally on the availability of data on reproductive traits, including those from tropical plants, which have been historically underrepresented in global trait databases. Although some valuable databases have been created recently, they are mainly restricted to temperate areas and vegetative traits such as leaf and wood traits. Here, we present Rock n' Seeds, a database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation, recognized as outstanding centers of diversity and endemism. Data were compiled through a systematic literature search, resulting in 103 publications from which seed functional traits were extracted. The database includes information on 16 functional traits for 383 taxa from 148 genera, 50 families, and 25 orders. These 16 traits include two dispersal, six production, four morphological, two biophysical, and two germination traits-the major axes of the seed ecological spectrum. The database also provides raw data for 48 germination experiments, for a total of 10,187 records for 281 taxa. Germination experiments in the database assessed the effect of a wide range of abiotic and biotic factors on germination and different dormancy-breaking treatments. Notably, 8255 of these records include daily germination counts. This input will facilitate synthesizing germination data and using this database for a myriad of ecological questions. Given the variety of seed traits and the extensive germination information made available by this database, we expect it to be a valuable resource advancing comparative functional ecology and guiding seed-based restoration and biodiversity conservation in tropical megadiverse ecosystems. There are no copyright restrictions on the data; please cite this paper when using the current data in publications; also the authors would appreciate notification of how the data are used in publications.

• Publisher: Ecological Society of America,CCSD,John Wiley and Sons, Inc,John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subject: Availability / Biodiversity / biodiversity conservation / Biotic factors / Brazil / campo de altitude / campo rupestre / canga / DATA PAPER / dispersal season / dispersal syndrome / Dispersion / Dormancy / dormancy breaking / Ecology / Ecosystem / Endemism / Environmental Sciences / Experiments / Genera / Germination / Humans / indigenous species / inselberg / leaves / Outcrops / Plants / Rocks / seed dormancy / seed mass / seed viability / Seeds / Taxa / Tropical plants / Vegetation / Wildlife conservation / wood
• ISBN: 0008989454000