We are looking for seed germination data collected in any project,
for any species and from any region of the world. During the first call
for data we are focusing on data fields that, in our experience, are
routinely recorded in germination experiments, thereby allowing for
synthesis and comparison of large quantities of data.
Datasets must be submitted in the required format (see template) in order to be included
in the database. Each dataset must be submitted in a single table in csv
or txt format to seedarcDB@gmail.com. Within this table, each row will
represent a germination record. A record is defined here as a replicate
(e.g. a Petri dish) of a germination experiment (with a controlled set
of conditions including temperature, light, etc.) and its associated
final germination proportion (expressed as number of viable seeds sown,
number of germinated seeds). Columns of the table must be named as
follows, with asterisk (*) indicating mandatory information:
- contributor_name(*) “Family name, Name”. See data
management rules for more information on the data contributor
figure.
- contributor_email(*)
- cocontributors other people responsible for producing the
dataset
- doi if the record is published, doi of the main
publication
- open_access yes/no whether you accept to make the primary
data open access
- taxon(*) taxon name used by the contributor including
authority to deal with ambiguous names
- collecion_glis_doi Global Information System Digital Object
Identificator for plant genetic resources, see https://glis.fao.org/glis/
- collection_type e.g. “wild native”, “wild alien”,
“restoration”, “domesticated”, “model species”
- collection_date(*) when the seedlot was harvested in
“YYYY-MM-DD”. At least the year in mandatory.
- collection_site low-level toponym identifying the
population
- collection_habitat preferably use (https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-037-En.pdf)
- collection_country use ISO codes
- collection_latitude(*) decimal degrees. If not available,
you can find coordinates from a place name using GBIF’s
Georeferencing Best Practices
- collection_longitude(*) decimal degrees
- collection_elevation m asl
- collection_coordinate_accuracy(*) in meters
- storage(*) e.g. “room conditions 2 months”, “seed banking 5
years”, “fresh”. Mandatory at least “fresh” or “banked”
- germination_substrate e.g. “petri 90 mm with filter paper”,
“agar”, “sand”, “pot 100 mm with peat”
- experiment_length in days from start of incubation to final
scoring date
- scarification(*) e.g. “none”, “mechanical”, “chemical”,
“boiling water”, “dry heat”
- stratification(*) e.g. “cold 3 months”, “warm”,” C+W”
- other_treatments e.g. “bleach”, “ga3”, “nitrate”,
“karrikins”, “hypoxia”
- photoperiod(*) hours of light from 24 to 0 (i.e. dark), if
germination was scored during a full dark treatment write 1
- light_quality e.g. “none”, “white”, “green safe”, “far
red”
- temperature_day(*) in ºC, if a ramp was used, make a
weighted mean
- temperature_night(*) in ºC, if a ramp was used, make a
weighted mean
- water_potential in MPa
- seeds_sown(*) number of seeds sown at start of the
experiment
- seeds_viable number of seeds that were viable and could
germinate, including seeds germinated during the experiment
- seeds_mouldy number of seeds that became mouldy during
experiment
- seeds_hard number of seeds that had not imbibed by end of
experiment
- seeds_germinated(*) number of seeds germinated at the last
scoring date, if a scoring time series is available add more columns and
name them “1”, “2”, where 1 is one day after the start of the experiment
(i.e. one week after would be named “7”)