Determination of moisture conditions using Pinus sylvestris seeds as biosensors

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether it might be possible to use seeds (Pinus sylvestris L.) as biosensors for determining seedbed moisture conditions by repeatedly weighing them during inhibition and desiccation. T o make the seeds manageable, they were glued on to a Nylon thread. Tests we re conducted in the laboratory under different moisture regimes (close to 7 5% and 100% air humidity with and without a wet substrate) to determine whe ther water uptake or water loss was influenced by this gluing. In a very mo ist environment (resulting in 40-50% seed weight change), the increase in s eed weight was a few percentage units lower for glued seeds than for non-gl ued ones. However, gluing had no significant effect when seeds were exposed to air humidity only (10% and 20% seed weight change). It was concluded th at it is possible to use seeds as biosensors for the determination of moist ure conditions.