Format: ORAL

Hctor E. Prez

Environmental Horticulture Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

Seeds operate in a world of physiological limits established by abiotic and biotic factors. These limits represent thresholds that govern not only in planta development of high-quality seeds but also seed to seedling transitions via germination. Important plant life history stages such as seed development on mother plants and seedling establishment are crucial to sustaining life on Earth. Yet human induced climate change continues to influence thresholds regulating plant regeneration from seeds. Additionally, many of the predicted impacts of climate change may push seeds beyond limits established during their recent evolutionary history. This predicament may be magnified for seeds of endangered plants and raises a series of important questions. Are the seeds of todays endangered plants ready for the climate challenges of tomorrow? How will seeds have to adapt to climate change? Are we expecting too much from seeds given the potential for increasing levels of stress that may keep seeds at operational limits? This presentation explores those questions by first discussing projected impacts of climate change. It then overlays a current synthesis of seed responses to predicted climate-induced stressors. We conclude with perspectives that may contribute to development of adaptive solutions for endangered species while calling for more attention to seed biology especially in a climate change context.