Seed morphological traits and their implication in the ex situ conservation of woody species in Tumbesian dry forests.

There is currently a great interest in studying functional traits in plants that aid to predict ecological interactions and responses of species to environmental or anthropological changes in ecosystems. Seeds'morphological traits play a relevant role along the whole life cycle of plants. However, they have not been well studied from functional perspective in different habitats especially in tropical dry areas, where there is great diversity of species at high risk of threat. The Tumbesian dry forests occurring in the southwestern of Ecuador and northwestern of Peru, are considered as hotspots owing to their high biodiversity and endemism. However, this ecosystem is highly threatened and some tree and shrub species have already been included in red for this reason, it is urgent to generate information that may promote the conservation of forest genetic resources of tropical dry forests. One of the most practical and immediate alternative is the collection and ex situ storage of seeds. However, in tropical dry habitats, the morphological, physiological and ecological traits of seeds are largely unknown which may prevent the performance of ex situ conservation strategies. This knowledge is important in order to efficiently collect and storage seeds that can be used in active restoration plants. In this article we provide information about morphological seeds traits of Tumbesian woody species and how such traits influence the process of seed collection and storage.