Pre-Sowing Treatments Improve Germinability of South Texas Native Plant Seeds

The incorporation of native plant species is central to restoration efforts, but this is often limited by both the availability of seeds and the relatively low viability and germination rates of commercially available seeds. Although pre-sowing treatments are commonly used to improve germination rates of seeds, the efficacy of these treatments is found to vary across species. In this study, we tested how four pre-sow treatments (physical scarification, acid scarification, cold stratification, and aerated hydropriming) affected the viability and seed germination rates of 12 commercially available plant species native to south Texas and commonly used in restoration efforts. Our results show that the viability of the seeds have a wide range, from 78% to 1.25%. Similarly, the total germination rate ranged from 62% to 0%. We found that pre-sowing treatments accelerated the germination rate in 9 of 12 plant species tested, but the effect varied by treatment. Collectively, our results identify various methods to achieve the best germination rates for native plants of south Texas, to help improve restoration efforts across the region.