Why does respiration increase when a seed begins to germinate?

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Cluster of bright red seeds emerging from the cone-shaped fruit of a magnolia grandiflora, surrounded by large, glossy green leaves. — Seed Fruit and seeds of the southern magnolia (*Magnolia grandiflora*). The fruit is an aggregate of follicles, and each follicle bears a single red seed.

When a seed begins to germinate, its rate of respiration increases to support the resumption of metabolic processes that were suspended or significantly reduced during dormancy.12

This increase in respiration is triggered by the absorption of water, a process known as imbibition. As the embryo rehydrates and its cells expand, the plant requires energy to mobilize stored food reserves—such as starch, proteins, and lipids—and to fuel the cell division and growth necessary for the seedling to emerge. These metabolic activities are further supported by structural changes within the organelles of the embryonic cells.12