Andrea Mondoni

Seed ecophysiology in Italian rare and endemic species in the genera Anemone and Silene

Andrea with his subject of study, Anemone nemorosa, showing (bottom right) fresh shoots growing from seed burial experiments in the field (Image: A. Mondoni)

“I’ve been working in the Department of Land Ecology at the University of Pavia in Northern Italy since 2003 when, after graduating in Natural Science, I was employed to set up the laboratories of the Lombardy Seed Bank (Lombardy Region). In 2004, whilst working as curator of the seed bank, I began a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Graziano Rossi (University of Pavia) and Dr Robin Probert (Kew Millennium Seed Bank partnership).

My research was about seed germination ecology of the European woodland geophytes Anemone nemorosa and A. ranunculoides from lowland and mountain populations in North Italy. The study combined field and laboratory work, and led me to describe a new dormancy classification for both species, finding remarkable differences in seed germination behaviour between species and between lowland and mountain sites. I had the opportunity to present part of this work at the International Conference of Seed Ecology held in Perth in September 2007 and I now look forward to publishing what we found.

Although I’m still investigating seed eco-physiology, I would now like to extend my interest toward ex situ seed longevity studies, since our seed bank stores several seed samples of Alpine species, which are suspected to be short-lived. The high quality of lab equipment, expertise and general logistics that I found at the MSB provided me with a really successful experience. I greatly enjoyed working at the MSB and I look forward to carrying on the collaboration.”