Upon reflection of the results, especially how the soil temperature didn't reach the required temperature, it was postulated that due to the internal environment of the Zwapak™ sleeve, the air trapped within it could act as a thermal barrier and thus slow the rate of thermal conduction in relation to the soil. It would make sense therefore to try the experiment again but this time not to ‘tie up' the Zwapak™ sleeves until after they have been treated in either the fridge or the freezer. Secondly if the main concern of future experiments is the soil temperature not reaching the required level one could just simply put the seeds in a Petri dish and then transfer them to the fridge/freezer. This would totally eliminate the soil influence on seed temperature. The air spaces that exist in soil act as a thermal barrier to the outside and thus the soil itself makes it difficult for the seed to reach the required temperature. After looking at the t-test's and the fact that the method of seed storage is so efficient one could possibly carry out another experiment exactly the same as this one but, instead use up to 100 seeds per replicate (using much larger pots). The reason behind this is that as the seeds are so close to germination due to the storage methods the majority of the seed won't benefit from stratification. However in a given population of seed nearing germination there will always be those seed that either don't germinate or get affected by the different conditions. If more seed are grown then the few that would normally germinate given a changing condition would be increased. As a result those seeds that are affected by stratification will be expressed more, statistically speaking, and will therefore give a more accurate representation on how stratification effects germination.
Another possible improvement on this experiment could involve using A.thaliana seeds of differing moisture content. In other words one could use the same ecotypes as used in this experiment, but instead have their relative moisture content increase by 5% for each condition (5%,10%,15%...). This is so that the possibility of seed storage playing a role in germination can be tested. However there is another way of testing whether it is was method of seed storage that prevented any significant change in the rate of germination. It would make sense to assume that if seed were harvested directly from the plant and then sown into the soil the effects of seed storage on stratification wouldn't play a role. In other words as soon as the seed is harvested from A.thaliana they are to be sown into the soil (20 seed per pot) and then placed under the conditions used in this experiment. Indeed a combination of the above (using directly harvested seed, and then using Petri dishes instead of soil, or not sealing the Zwapak™ sleeves until they are transferred to the green house) would lead to much more reliable results and perhaps allow for refinement of the stratification protocol.
Abstract,Introduction,Germination,Dormancy,Temperature,Light,Ecotypes
Ecotype-Storage,Soil preperation,Seed Sowing,Germination-Conditions,Measurement of Results
Cond1,Cond1rep,Cond2,Cond3,Cond4,Cond5,Cond6,Cond6rep,Cond7,Cond8