Factors affecting seed germination, seedling emergence, and survival of texasweed (Caperonia palustris)

Abstract

Field, laboratory, and greenhouse experiments were conducted to determine the seed production potential and effect of environmental factors on germination, emergence, and survival of texasweed. Texasweed produced an average of 893 seed per plant, and 90% were viable. Seed exhibited dormancy, and prechilling did not release dormancy. Percent germination ranged from 56% for seed subjected to no prechilling to 1% for seed prechilled at 5 C for 140 d. Seed remained viable during extended prechilling conditions, with 80% of seed viable after 140 d of prechilling. Texasweed seed germinated over a range of 20 to 40 C, with optimum germination (54%) occurring with a fluctuating 40/30 C temperature regime. Seed germinated with fluctuating 12-h light/dark and constant dark conditions. Texasweed seed germinated over a broad range of pH, osmotic potential, and salt concentrations. Seed germination was 31 to 62% over a pH range from 4 to 10. Germination of texasweed ranged from 9 to 56% as osmotic potential decreased from − 0.8 MPa to 0 (distilled water). Germination was greater than 52% at less than 40 mM NaCl concentrations and lowest (27%) at 160 mM NaCl. Texasweed seedlings emerged from soil depths as deep as 7.5 cm (7% emergence), but emergence was > 67% for seed placed on the soil surface or at a 1-cm depth. Texasweed seed did not germinate under saturated or flooded conditions, but seed survived flooding and germinated (23 to 25%) after flood removal. Texasweed seedlings 2.5 to 15 cm tall were not affected by emersion in 10-cm-deep flood for up to 14 d. These results suggest that texasweed seed is capable of germinating and surviving in a variety of climatic and edaphic conditions, and that flooding is not a viable management option for emerged plants of texasweed.

Germination Ecology of Catchfly (Silene conoidea) Seeds of Different Colors

“…Germination is the process whereby seeds begin to sprout and grow. This process is affected by such factors as temperature (Widderick et al, 2004), drought (Chejara et al, 2008), salts (Chauhan et al, 2006) and burial depth (Koger et al, 2004). The present paper is concerned with the germination of catchfly (Silene conoidea) seeds.…”

Effect of salinity on Echinochloa crus-galli germination as affected by herbicide resistance

“…In fact, salinity represents one of the environmental conditions that affect seed germination and plant growth (Sadeghloo et al, 2013), both in weeds and in crops. The knowledge of the ability of seeds to germinate in different environmental conditions, including salinity, is considered of fundamental importance not only for crop establishment, but also for estimating weed development in agricultural ecosystems (Koger et al, 2004;Benvenuti, 2011).…”

Effects of Environmental Factors on Seed Germination and Emergence of Glyphosate Resistant and Susceptible Sourgrass

“…Factors such as temperature, light, soil moisture and depth of seed seeding are known to affect the species germination and emergence (Koger et al, 2004;Tang et al, 2015). Knowledge about the environmental requirements for germination of weed seeds, not yet studied for several species, is critical for the interpretation of their ecophysiological behavior in the field, in addition to enabling the development of seed bank reduction strategies in the cultivated areas (Gomes and Christoffoleti, 2008).…”