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Many plants produce seeds which would remain viable after 10 years. A few years ago, a group of students managed to produce a crop from 800 year old squash seeds.

Online, you will find charts indicating that many common garden vegetable seeds are only good for 2-5 years. This is more an indication of "best-by" dates: the majority of a sample of seeds might become spoiled after 10 years, but even delicate nightshades like tomatoes will have a few viable seeds after a decade.

In fact, from personal experience and a bit of online research, a better question might be which plant seeds would not be viable after 10 years. Many would make it! Plants are hardy things.

That said, a ten year blackout would have a devastating ecological effect that would drive many species to extinction, without doubt, but it's hard to count off all of the species that would die because of this. On the one hand you might think plants earlier in ecological succession, better adapted to disruption, might survive better - but on the other hand perhaps later succession plants are better adapted to long dormancy period. There are a lot of hard factors to consider.

Sorry I can't give a clearer answer. Hope someone smarter than me chips in!

EDIT: Just another note. One of the biggest ecological problems would probably be atmospheric. The obvious issue here is no oxygen without plants. When the sun returns, you still wouldn't see plants return because plants need oxygen just as much as animals do. But even if the oxygen supply were somehow sci-fied away, there is also the issue of CO2: after the sun blacks out, virtually all plants on earth will die, and their decaying remains would release vast quantities of carbon dioxide and methane. Runaway greenhouse gas effect, ocean acidification, and probably even asphyxiation (even with oxygen somehow supplied!) follows.

Many plants produce seeds which would remain viable after 10 years. A few years ago, a group of students managed to produce a crop from 800 year old squash seeds.

Online, you will find charts indicating that many common garden vegetable seeds are only good for 2-5 years. This is more an indication of "best-by" dates: the majority of a sample of seeds might become spoiled after 10 years, but even delicate nightshades like tomatoes will have a few viable seeds after a decade.

In fact, from personal experience and a bit of online research, a better question might be which plant seeds would not be viable after 10 years. Many would make it! Plants are hardy things.

That said, a ten year blackout would have a devastating ecological effect that would drive many species to extinction, without doubt, but it's hard to count off all of the species that would die because of this. On the one hand you might think plants earlier in ecological succession, better adapted to disruption, might survive better - but on the other hand perhaps later succession plants are better adapted to long dormancy period. There are a lot of hard factors to consider.

Sorry I can't give a clearer answer. Hope someone smarter than me chips in!

Many plants produce seeds which would remain viable after 10 years. A few years ago, a group of students managed to produce a crop from 800 year old squash seeds.

Online, you will find charts indicating that many common garden vegetable seeds are only good for 2-5 years. This is more an indication of "best-by" dates: the majority of a sample of seeds might become spoiled after 10 years, but even delicate nightshades like tomatoes will have a few viable seeds after a decade.

In fact, from personal experience and a bit of online research, a better question might be which plant seeds would not be viable after 10 years. Many would make it! Plants are hardy things.

That said, a ten year blackout would have a devastating ecological effect that would drive many species to extinction, without doubt, but it's hard to count off all of the species that would die because of this. On the one hand you might think plants earlier in ecological succession, better adapted to disruption, might survive better - but on the other hand perhaps later succession plants are better adapted to long dormancy period. There are a lot of hard factors to consider.

Sorry I can't give a clearer answer. Hope someone smarter than me chips in!

EDIT: Just another note. One of the biggest ecological problems would probably be atmospheric. The obvious issue here is no oxygen without plants. When the sun returns, you still wouldn't see plants return because plants need oxygen just as much as animals do. But even if the oxygen supply were somehow sci-fied away, there is also the issue of CO2: after the sun blacks out, virtually all plants on earth will die, and their decaying remains would release vast quantities of carbon dioxide and methane. Runaway greenhouse gas effect, ocean acidification, and probably even asphyxiation (even with oxygen somehow supplied!) follows.

Source Link
Pink Sweetener
  • 3.4k
  • 14
  • 32

Many plants produce seeds which would remain viable after 10 years. A few years ago, a group of students managed to produce a crop from 800 year old squash seeds.

Online, you will find charts indicating that many common garden vegetable seeds are only good for 2-5 years. This is more an indication of "best-by" dates: the majority of a sample of seeds might become spoiled after 10 years, but even delicate nightshades like tomatoes will have a few viable seeds after a decade.

In fact, from personal experience and a bit of online research, a better question might be which plant seeds would not be viable after 10 years. Many would make it! Plants are hardy things.

That said, a ten year blackout would have a devastating ecological effect that would drive many species to extinction, without doubt, but it's hard to count off all of the species that would die because of this. On the one hand you might think plants earlier in ecological succession, better adapted to disruption, might survive better - but on the other hand perhaps later succession plants are better adapted to long dormancy period. There are a lot of hard factors to consider.

Sorry I can't give a clearer answer. Hope someone smarter than me chips in!