The Australian Alps are under unprecedented threat from climate change, altered fire regimes, weeds, pests, and human interference. Within the Alps, the endangered ecological community " Alpine Sphagnum Bogs and Associated Fens" (ASBAFs) will be particularly impacted by threatening processes due to the inherently small, fragmented and isolated populations (TSSC 2008). Currently, few restoration options exist because ecological drivers of recruitment, and optimal methods of ex situ seed storage and propagation, remain unknown. Many ASBAF plants do not occur elsewhere and appear to possess a suite of adaptations for the cool, waterlogged, and acidic bog environment. We hypothesised that seeds of ASBAF species would exhibit optimal germination under conditions that mirrored those of the growing season (Baskin etal 1998); cool (20/10t), waterlogged (submerged), and acidic (pH 4 ~6).
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