The seagrass Halophila ovalis rapidly colonizes marine sediments from seed across a range of depth, light, and temperature conditions, making it ideal for restoration projects. Yet, presently, it is not a targeted restoration species as the biology of seed dormancy and germination is poorly understood. This study addresses that knowledge gap by experimenting with temperature and light pre-treatments with the aim to determine optimal conditions for high rates of seed germination. H. ovalis seeds were pre-treated ex situ by applying nine combinations of temperature and monochromatic light. Two thirds of the pre-treated seeds were placed at separate field sites in conditions suboptimal for natural germination while one third remained in ex situ culture under suboptimal germination conditions (17 °C). Seed viability was monitored to determine if storage conditions impacted viability. X-ray analysis revealed a general decline in viability with time in storage. To analyze the effectiveness of pre-treatments, we compared the results of ex situ and in situ germination. Pre-treating seeds with red light (673 nm) and a stepwise temperature increase (15–20–25 °C) yielded the highest germination success across field and laboratory culture conditions. This indicates that we can use temperature and monochromatic light pre-treatments to break seed dormancy in the laboratory and induce “on-demand” germination of seeds after delivery to field sites potentially leading to more efficient and successful restoration practices with this species. Similarly, the conditions required for breaking dormancy and germination in H. ovalis (red spectrum light and a stepwise temperature increase) represent conditions associated with spring river freshwater runoff and warming of estuaries and coastal seas in temperate Australia.

海草椭圆形嗜盐菌可在一定深度，光线和温度条件下迅速将种子中的海洋沉积物定殖，使其非常适合修复项目。然而，由于种子休眠和萌发的生物学了解甚少，目前它还不是针对性的恢复物种。这项研究通过试验温度和光照预处理来解决该知识鸿沟，目的是确定高种子萌发率的最佳条件。卵形H.通过施加9种温度和单色光组合对种子进行异地预处理。将经过预处理的种子的三分之二放在自然发芽次优条件下的单独田间地点，而将三分之一的种子在次优发芽条件下（17°C）留在异地培养中。监测种子生存力以确定储存条件是否影响生存力。X射线分析显示，随着时间的推移，生存能力普遍下降。为了分析预处理的有效性，我们比较了异位和原位发芽的结果。在田间和实验室培养条件下，用红光（673 nm）和逐步升高的温度（15–20–25°C）预处理种子可获得最高的发芽成功率。这表明我们可以在实验室中使用温度和单色光预处理来打破种子休眠状态，并在将种子交付田间地点后诱导种子“按需”发芽，从而有可能导致该物种更有效，更成功的恢复实践。同样，打破休眠和发芽的条件椭圆形H.（红色光谱光和逐步升高的温度）代表与温带澳大利亚春季河淡水径流以及河口和沿海海域变暖相关的条件。