Dormancy release rate (DRR) was calculated separately for each relative humidity since there were significant differences in the linear regression for each storage temperature at each RH. This led to a correlation between DRR and temperature that resulted in two base temperatures for dormancy release, 2.7 and 1.6℃, calculated for 60% and 33% RH, respectively. The Tbs reported here are lower than the ones reported in the winter pasture species Lolium rigidum (Steadman et al. 2003). The lowest temperature studied by those authors was 9℃, while we used a lower temperature to study the influence on dormancy release (5℃). At 5℃ S. diclinis seeds will need more than 964 days to lose dormancy and achieve 100% germination. In nature, seeds would not experience such long periods of temperatures below 5℃, as that is the mean minimum temperature in the natural habitat. But temperatures below 5℃ are common in long term storage, and exists the possibility to store seed at temperatures close to the Tbs reported here, which after long periods may result in dormancy loss. Therefore, the base temperature for dormancy release should be taken into account in seed banks in order to manage S. diclinis conservation(Mira et al. 2011).