A global archive of primary seed germination data
Seed germination plays a central role in plant regeneration, species distributions, and ecosystem dynamics. Yet most germination data remain scattered across publications, laboratories, and personal archives, limiting their reuse in large-scale ecological research.
SeedArc was created to change that.
SeedArc is a global, community-driven archive of primary seed germination data designed to support collaborative SeedArc projects across species, populations, ecosystems, and biomes.
We focus on raw experimental data linked to geo-referenced seed collections of wild plants, enabling flexible and reproducible analyses of germination strategies at multiple biological scales.
What SeedArc enables
By integrating primary germination data with functional traits, phylogeny, and environmental information, SeedArc supports research on:
- Global patterns of seed germination strategies
- Links between germination, climate, and disturbance
- Intraspecific variability and adaptation
- Regeneration ecology under environmental change
SeedArc is not only a database — it is a collaborative research community.
Current status
- 64,400 primary germination records
- ~5,200 plant species
- International community of contributors
- Multiple peer-reviewed studies published
Join the SeedArc community
SeedArc operates under transparent data governance: contributors retain ownership of their primary data and are invited to participate in collaborative projects and publications.
We welcome germination datasets from any region, taxonomic group, or experimental design.
If you work on seed germination ecology and would like to contribute data or propose a project, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Contact
Citation
Please cite SeedArc as:
Fernández-Pascual E, Carta A, Rosbakh S, Guja L, Phartyal SS, Silveira FAO, Chen SC, Larson JE, Jiménez-Alfaro B (2023) SeedArc: a global archive of primary seed germination data. New Phytologist 240, 466-470.