Quadratic response surface analysis was applied to data of seed germination in relation to temperature. Analysis of these data is the comparing of several levels of quantitative factors. In such situations, multiple-comparison procedures, such as Duncan's multiple range test, are inappropriate. The data were the germination percentages of four species at 55 constant or alternating day and night temperature regimes. A quadratic response surface was developed for each species using multiple-regression techniques. Estimated germination values and their confidence limits were derived from the quadratic response surface of each species for each cold-period temperature through a series of warm-period temperatures. Many parameters were synthesized from the response surfaces to evaluate germination of the four species in relation to temperature. These comparisons form a statistically valid basis from which to select the most adapted plant species and predict the best time for planting or applying weed-control treatments.

Recently, forest seed banks were proven to not only reflect former (decades-old) but also ancient (centuries-old) land use. Yet, as land-use intensity determines the magnitude of seed-bank changes in recent forests, this study aims to identify whether an ancient land-use gradient would also be reflected in the seed bank. On a forested 1600-year-old archaeological site, five different land-use intensities were mapped and sampled. Apart from seed density, species richness and composition, functional seed-bank types, defined by nine seed-bank-related plant traits, were related to the land-use intensity gradient. The land-use gradient from gardens to undisturbed sites was still clearly reflected in the soil seed bank. Six emergent functional seed-bank types, characterized by specific plant traits, changed significantly in abundance, parallel to the land-use gradient. In particular, dispersal agent (and related traits) proved an important explanatory trait of present (functional) seed-bank patterns. Poor dispersers (large and heavy seeds) were not found in the intensively used areas, contrary to animal-dispersed species. Wind-dispersers may have been inhibited in the extension of their distribution by recruitment bottlenecks (low seed production) and/or competitive exclusion. Additionally, the agricultural land-use probably introduced ruderal species into the seed bank of the most intensively used areas, yielding a simultaneous increase in vegetation–seed-bank dissimilarity with land-use intensity, eliminating present vegetation as a driver behind the differences over the seed-bank gradient. We conclude by arguing how coppice-with-standards management possibly maintained the seed-bank gradient.