Rock n’ Seeds : a database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation.

Abstract

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 data- base 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 dif- ferent 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 avail- able by this database, we expect it to be a valuable resource advancing compar- ative 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.