Seed Mass,Shape and Dormancy in Arid Temperate Degraded Grassland in Northeastern Inner Mongolia,China

Extensive studies have been conducted on the relationship between seed mass, shape and persistence in soil. However, the relationship between seed mass, shape and dormancy remains unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the possible relationship of seed mass and shape with dormancy in 124 plant species from different families, differing in their growth forms, in an arid temperate degraded grassland in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. One‐tailed t‐test was applied to assess the differences in seed mass and shape between dormant and non‐dormant species. Phylogenetically independent contrasts were used to determine whether divergence within individual clades between dormant and non‐dormant seeds was associated with seed mass or seed shape. Our results indicate that the dormant seeds were heavier than 1 mg. Species with dormant seeds had significantly larger seed mass than those with non‐dormant seeds (one‐tailed t‐test = −3·56, p = 0·0005), but there was no significant difference in seed shape between them (one‐tailed t‐test = 0·86, p = 0·195). Furthermore, the relationship between seed mass, shape and dormancy was observed to be linked to phylogeny. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.