Seed size effects on plant establishment under low atmospheric CO2, with implications for seed size evolution

Low atmospheric CO2 concentration depresses photosynthesis and resource use efficiency, and therefore can inhibit phases of the life cycle such as seedling establishment. Seed reserves can compensate for photosynthetic inhibition by accelerating seedling growth. We therefore hypothesize that seedlings arising from large seeds show less inhibition from low atmospheric CO2 than young plants from small seeds. Seed size effects on seedling responses to low CO2 may also be enhanced in warm environments, due to greater photorespiration at high temperature.

Phaseolus and Vigna seeds differing in mass by over two orders of magnitude were planted and grown for 14 d in growth chambers with CO2 concentrations of 370, 180 or 100 ppm, in thermal regimes of 25 °C/19 °C, 30 °C/24 °C or 35 °C/29 °C (day/night). We measured leaf area expansion, shoot growth and mortality of the seedlings arising from the variously sized seeds at 14 days after planting (14 DAP).

Relative to small-seeded plants, large-seeded genotypes produced greater leaf area and shoot mass at 14 DAP across the range of CO2 treatments in the 25 °C/19 °C and 30 °C/24 °C regimes, and at 100 ppm in the 35 °C/29 °C treatment. The proportional decline in leaf area and seed mass with CO2 reduction was generally greater for seedlings arising from small than from large seeds. Reductions in leaf area due to CO2 reduction increased in the warmer temperature treatments. In the 35 °C/19 °C treatment at 100 ppm CO2, seedling mortality was greater in small- than in large-seeded genotypes, and the small-seeded genotypes were unable to exit the seedling stage by the end of the experiment.

The results support a hypothesis that seedlings from large seeds grow and establish better than seedlings from small seeds in warm, low CO2 environments. During low CO2 episodes in Earth's history, such as the past 30 million years, large seeds may have been favoured by natural selection in warm environments. With the recent rise in atmospheric CO2 due to human activities, trade-offs between seed size and number may already be affected, such that seed size today may be non-optimal in their natural habitats.