Seed mass, shape, and persistence in the soil seed bank of Israeli coastal sand dune flora

Question: Are seed mass and shape related to persistence in the soil seed bank among 54 species of the Israeli flora? Search method: Persistence was determined by soil seed bank investigations in which the fraction of non-germinated viable seeds was regarded as the persistent soil seed bank. When seedling emergence had ceased but before new seeds were shed, all soil from the upper 5 cm of 120 quadrats was removed to the laboratory. At that time, the seeds sampled were those from previous seed rains. Data description: Plant species with persistent and transient seeds were widely scattered across the range of seed mass or dimension and variances. A significant relationship was found between seed mass (or dimension) and seed persistence with persistent seeds tending to have larger mass. However, no significant relationship was found between seed shape and seed persistence. Species with persistent seeds had significantly higher seed mass than those with transient seeds (one-tailed t-test = 1.68, n = 48, P = 0.007), but there was no significant difference in shape between them (one-tailed t-test = 1.68, n = 48, P = 0.076; t-test = 1.68