Seed Bank Dynamics and Germination Ecology in Espeletia timotensis (Compositae), an Andean Giant Rosette

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Abstract
The dynamics of a seed cohort over a one-year period and its laboratory germination requirements at eight constant temperatures in light and darkness were studed in Espeletia timotensis Cuatr., a giant rosette species from the Venezuelan Andes (paramo) at 4200 m elevation. After one year (coinciding with the end of the rainy season) 55 percent of the seeds remained viable, 17 percent had germinated, and mortality accounted for 30 percent. Soil samples collected at the beginning and the end of the rainy season and sieved to separate the buried seeds revealed naturally occurring viable seeds on both occasions. In the laboratory, maximum germination percentages were 80 and 67 percent in light and darkness, respectivley, much higher than the germination percentage observed in the field. The adaptive significance of the asynchronous germination pattern in the seed bank of E. timotensis and the differences between field and laboratory germination are discussed.

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