Seed of alpine plants are short-lived in storage

Alpine ecosystems are considered as being particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Mondoni et al. report that seeds of alpine plants are short-lived in storage compared with those from related lowland taxa. The lower resistance to ageing may arise from low natural selection pressure in the alpine environment for seed resistance to ageing and/or damage incurred during seed development. Long-term seed conservation of several alpine species using conventional seed banking methods will thus be problematic.