Plant regeneration from seeds: Tibet Plateau in China

The Tibetan Plateau is a unique landform with an average elevation of >4000m a.s.l., and it is experiencing rapid climate change that could significantly impact plant regeneration from seeds. In this chapter, we describe the effects of changes in temperature, precipitation, and snow cover, as well as those of increased deposition of atmospheric nitrogen (N) on plant regeneration from seeds on the Tibet Plateau. The effects of climate change on seed production, seed dormancy break/germination, and seedling emergence and establishment are species-specific. Warming enhances seed production of some species and potentially can decrease dormancy break in many species. Increased drought and decreased snow cover are not conducive to seedling survival, while increased deposition of N promotes plant growth. Changes in seedling survival and seed production likely will have long-term consequences on species richness and density of seeds in the soil seed bank and on community composition and structure.