ORIGINAL PAPER Dormancy release and seed ageing in the endangered species Silene diclinis Sara Mira • M. Elena Gonza ´lez-Benito • Ana M. Ibars • Elena Estrelles Received: 31 July 2009 / Accepted: 5 March 2010 / Published online: 26 March 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Abstract The influence of seed testa color, temperature and seed water content on dormancy release and seed viability loss in the endangered, endemic species Silene diclinis (Lag.) M. Laı ´nz was evaluated. Dormant heterogeneous seeds (black, red and grey colored) were exposed to three different temperatures (5, 20, and 35°C) and two relative humidities (33 and 60%) in order to assay their dormancy release. Longevity behavior was studied for the three colored seeds, storing samples at nine different combinations of temperature (5, 20 and 35°C) and relative humidities (33, 60 and 90%). According to our findings, seed heteromorphism was not related to neither break of dormancy nor seed storage behavior. Silene diclinis seeds present dormancy after collection, and need an after-ripening period to germinate. Temperature and relative humidity are positively correlated with dormancy release and seed ageing. Therefore, both factors must be carefully controlled during seed manipulation in the laboratory for long term seed conservation purposes. When seeds are stored immediately after collection (dormant), if the temperature of storage is above the base temperature for dormancy release found in this work (between 2.7 and 1.6°C), seeds may eventually overcome dormancy. On the other hand if seeds are stored after an after- ripening period, storage at low temperature does not induce secondary dormancy. Keywords Caryophyllaceae Á Dormancy release Á Endangered plants Á Ex situ conservation Á Seed ageing Á Seed coat color Á Seed heterogeneity Á Seed longevity Á Silene diclinis Á Storage conditions Abbreviations DRR Dormancy release rate fw Fresh weigh S. Mira Á M. E. Gonza ´lez-Benito Departamento de Biologı ´a Vegetal, Escuela Universitaria de Ingenierı ´a Te ´cnica Agrı ´cola, Universidad Polite ´cnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain A. M. Ibars Á E. Estrelles (&) ICBiBE-Jardı ´ Bota `nic, Universitat de Vale `ncia, Quart 80, 46008 Valencia, Spain e-mail: elena.estrelles@uv.es 123 Biodivers Conserv (2011) 20:345–358 DOI 10.1007/s10531-010-9833-x