Seed biology of Australian arid zone species: Germination of 18 species used for rehabilitation

Commander, Lucy; Merritt, David J.; Rokich, Deanna P.; Dixon, Kingsley W.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.01.007

Cited by 63 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Since restoration of disturbed arid or semi-arid environments is often hindered by low seedling establishment, information on seed biology and germination is a valuable tool for restoration practices (Commander et al 2009). Soil seed bank germination was significantly and interactively affected by N and water supply, although the response observed for each species or functional group (woody, forbs and grasses) varied dramatically.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen fertilization and water supply affect germination and plant establishment of the soil seed bank present in a semi-arid Mediterranean scrubland

Ochoa‐Hueso

Manrique

2010

Plant Ecol

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Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs in terrestrial ecosystems are higher than those that occur naturally and have been related to global biodiversity loss and altered ecosystem functioning. However, its effects on Mediterranean-type ecosystems, where production is water-limited and N regulated, remain unclear. We conducted a green-house experiment where we evaluated the effects of four simulated scenarios of N pollution (0, 10, 20 and 50 kg N ha -1 year -1 ) and two differential water supply regimes on the germination (experiment 1) and early plant establishment (experiment 2) of a seed bank from a semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystem of central Spain. Seed bank density was estimated as 62,374 ± 3,279 seeds m -2 . Approximately 99.5% of emerged seeds corresponded to only 14 species of a total of 52, the majority of which were the annual forb Sagina apetala. The responses for N treatments were speciesspecific, mainly positive or unimodal, with watering treatments having some interactive effects. N and water supply also affected total and specific productivity; the responses found for N treatments were mainly humpback-shaped and an increased water supply had additive effects on community establishment in terms of total plant biomass. This response was linked to forb responsiveness. Contrary to predictions, grass biomass did not change with N supply; however, grass to forb ratio was affected because of changes in the latter. Overall, these experiments suggest a critical load for plant biomass production and conclude that N and water availability and supply can modify germination and plant establishment. This should be taken into account when analysing the effects of global change on the dynamics of plant communities where annuals are dominant or vegetation must establish from seed following a natural or anthropogenic disturbance regime.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen fertilization and water supply affect germination and plant establishment of the soil seed bank present in a semi-arid Mediterranean scrubland

Ochoa‐Hueso

Manrique

2010

Plant Ecol

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“…Anthocercis littorea (Solanaceae) germination has a strong requirement for karrikin treatment. However, high concentrations of GA 3 (2.89 mM) can promote its germination, as can KAR 1 (0.67 μM) (18). GA 3 and KAR 1 both induced germination of three Asteraceae species (A. tomentosus, P. canescens, and Myriocephalus guerinae) and enhanced dark germination at a range of temperatures (77).…”

Section: Light and Hormone Interactions With Smoke-stimulated Germinamentioning

confidence: 97%

Regulation of Seed Germination and Seedling Growth by Chemical Signals from Burning Vegetation

Nelson

Flematti

Ghisalberti

et al. 2012

Annu. Rev. Plant Biol.

261

200

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It is well known that burning of vegetation stimulates new plant growth and landscape regeneration. The discovery that char and smoke from such fires promote seed germination in many species indicates the presence of chemical stimulants. Nitrogen oxides stimulate seed germination, but their importance in post-fire germination has been questioned. Cyanohydrins have been recently identified in aqueous smoke solutions and shown to stimulate germination of some species through the slow release of cyanide. However, the most information is available for karrikins, a family of butenolides related to 3-methyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one. Karrikins stimulate seed germination and influence seedling growth. They are active in species not normally associated with fire, and in Arabidopsis they require the F-box protein MAX2, which also controls responses to strigolactone hormones. We hypothesize that chemical similarity between karrikins and strigolactones provided the opportunity for plants to employ a common signal transduction pathway to respond to both types of compound, while tailoring specific developmental responses to these distinct environmental signals.

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“…However, large effects on other responsive species have been reported before (Plummer and Bell 1995;Purbey and Meghwal 2005). Unfortunately, responses can be very species-specific (Commander et al 2009) even within the ); pre-soaking duration (10, 24, 34 or 48 h); substrate GA3 concentration (0, 250 or 500 mg g -1 ); control (no pre-soak, no GA3 in substrate). Standard error of the plotted means ranged from 0.32% to 0.88% for the pre-soak GA3 concentration means, from 0.46% to 1.25% for the pre-soak time means and from 0.4% to 1.08% for the means of the substrate chemicals used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Germinating the seeds of three species of Pimelea sect. Epallage (Thymelaeaceae)

Silcock¹,

Mann²

2014

Aust. J. Bot.

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Abstract. Pimelea trichostachya Lindl., P. simplex F.Muell. and P. elongata Threlfall frequently cause pimelea poisoning of cattle. Fresh seeds of these species, belonging to sect. Epallage (Endl.) Benth. of Pimelea Gaertn. (Thymelaeaceae) are strongly dormant for years when in laboratory storage. Common methods of stimulating germination, such as scarification, dry heat and cold stratification, did not remove much of the dormancy. 'Smoke-water' stimulated some germination but its effect was unpredictable and many seedlings then grew aberrantly. Exposure of imbibed seeds to gibberellic acid greatly and reliably improved the germination of all three species. However, the manner of application and the concentration of gibberellic acid used had to be appropriate or many young seedlings grew abnormally or died suddenly, limiting successful plant establishment rates. The dormancy type involved is non-deep Type 2 physiological. Ten days of good moisture, in addition to gibberellic acid exposure, is required before appreciable laboratory germination occurs at optimal temperatures. Thus, the mechanism by which gibberellic acid stimulates good germination does not appear to be the same as that which primes seeds for the rapid and prolific germination often seen under natural conditions in arid Australia. Seeds of P. simplex subsp. continua (J.M.Black) Threlfall proved most difficult to germinate and those of P. elongata the easiest.

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Seed biology of Australian arid zone species: Germination of 18 species used for rehabilitation

Cited by 63 publications

References 38 publications

Nitrogen fertilization and water supply affect germination and plant establishment of the soil seed bank present in a semi-arid Mediterranean scrubland

Nitrogen fertilization and water supply affect germination and plant establishment of the soil seed bank present in a semi-arid Mediterranean scrubland

Regulation of Seed Germination and Seedling Growth by Chemical Signals from Burning Vegetation

Germinating the seeds of three species of Pimelea sect. Epallage (Thymelaeaceae)

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