OptGERM: A comprehensive database of within and among species germination and early seedling development for six European tree species

The OptGERM includes 15774 phenotypic trait measurements from individual seeds and seedlings measured in a series of translocation experiments under controlled temperature conditions at 15, 20 and 25°C within the Horizon Europe OptFORESTS project (2022 – 2027).

It comprises 43 provenances covering the distribution of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Lieb), pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) and cork oak (Quercus suber L.).

The OptGERM database provides individual phenotypic measurements of seed mass, germination success, germination timing, first leaf emergence, seedling height measured at first leaf emergence, seedling growth, leaf pigments (chlorophyll, flavonols, anthocyanins,  and the NFI index), SLA (Specific Leaf Area), below- and above-ground biomass, root length and survival.

The following files are included:

OptGERM_Traits.csv: individual seed, germination and post-germination seedling measurements.

OptGERM_Provenances.csv: geographical coordinates of the seed sources, and related information gathered at the provenance level.

OptGERM_Metadata_Descriptor.docx: description of the fields of OptGERM_Traits.csv, and OptGERM_Provenances.csv databases.

OptGERM Seed Origin Maps.R: R script to plot the seed origin within the species ranges and the mean annual temperature.

OptGERM Mean Population Germination.R:  R script to plot the average germination per population from OptGERM_Traits.csv.