Summary of the final report on the Australian Flora Foundation funded project:

Developing a screening procedure to determine the impact of climate change on seed germination in threatened native plant species
Dr Jenny Guerin, Thai Te, Michael Thorpe, Daniel Duval and Dr Phillip Ainsley, South Australian Seed Conservation Centre   Grant details   Final report

Climate change forecasts predict that there will be increased temperatures and altered rainfall patterns within the next decades, which is likely to exert pressure on plant populations that are already under threat. We have developed a screening tool using a thermogradient plate to produce a range of different temperatures to assess the impact of climate change on seed germination of thirteen South Australian threatened species. The germination profiles varied for each species and pinpointed those with greater sensitivity to increases in temperature. This screening method could be used to identify plant populations at risk of decline and contribute to management decisions regarding in situ and ex situ conservation strategies.