Seed dormancy in four Tibetan Plateau Vicia species and characterization of physiological changes in response of seeds to environmental factors

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaowen Hu ◽  
Tingshan Li ◽  
Juan Wang ◽  
Yanrong Wang ◽  
Carol C. Baskin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Germination Rate ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Physical Dormancy ◽  
High Germination ◽  
One Year ◽  
Hydrotime Model ◽  
Aba Biosynthesis

AbstractAlthough seed dormancy of temperate legumes is well understood, less is known about it in species that grow in subalpine/alpine areas. This study investigated dormancy and germination of four Vicia species from the Tibetan Plateau. Fresh seeds of V. sativa were permeable to water, whereas those of V. angustifolia, V. amoena and V. unijuga had physical dormancy (PY). One year of dry storage increased the proportion of impermeable seeds in V. angustifolia, but showed no effect on seed coat permeability in V. amoena or V. unijuga. Seeds of all four species also had non-deep physiological dormancy (PD), which was especially apparent in the two annuals at a high germination temperature (20°C). After 1 year of storage, PD had been lost. The hydrotime model showed that fresh seeds obtained a significantly higher median water potential [Ψb(50)] than stored seeds, implying that PD prevents germination in winter for seeds dispersed without PY when water availability is limited. After 6 months on the soil surface in the field, a high proportion of permeable seeds remained ungerminated, further suggesting that PD plays a key role in preventing germination after dispersal. Addition of fluridone, an inhibitor of abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis, evened-out the differences in germination between fresh and stored seeds, which points to the key role of ABA biosynthesis in maintaining dormancy. Further, fresh seeds were more sensitive to exogenous ABA than stored seeds, indicating that storage decreased embryo sensitivity to ABA. On the other hand, the gibberellic acid GA3 increased germination rate, which implies that embryo sensitivity to GA is also involved in seed dormancy regulation. This study showed that PY, PD or their combination (PY+PD) plays a key role in timing germination after dispersal, and that different intensities of dormancy occur among these four Vicia species from the Tibetan Plateau.

scholarly journals Effects of soil temperature regimes after fire on seed dormancy and germination in six Australian Fabaceae species

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor M. Santana ◽  
Ross A. Bradstock ◽  
Mark K. J. Ooi ◽  
Andrew J. Denham ◽  
Tony D. Auld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Physical Dormancy ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
Open Canopy ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
Different Depths ◽  
Charred Wood

In addition to direct fire cues such as heat, smoke and charred wood, the passage of fire leads indirectly to changes in environmental conditions which may be able to break physical dormancy in hard-coated seeds. After a fire, the open canopy and the burnt material lying on the surface alter the thermal properties of the soil, resulting in elevated soil temperatures for long periods of time. We simulated daily temperature regimes experienced at different depths of soil profile after a summer fire. Our aim was to determine whether these temperature regimes and the duration of exposure (5, 15 and 30 days) play an important role breaking physical seed dormancy in six legumes from south-eastern Australia. Our results showed that simulated temperature regimes break seed dormancy. This effect is specially pronounced at temperatures that are expected to occur near the soil surface (0–2 cm depth). The duration of exposure interacts with temperature to break dormancy, with the highest germination rates reached after the longest duration and highest temperatures. However, the germination response varied among species. Therefore, this indirect post-fire cue could play a role in the regeneration of plant communities, and could stimulate seedling emergence independent of direct fire cues as well as in interaction with direct cues.

Factors controlling seed dormancy and germination response of Brachypodium hybridum growing in the hot arid mountains of the Arabian Desert

Botany ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (7) ◽  
pp. 371-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masarra Elgabra ◽  
Ali El-Keblawy ◽  
Kareem A. Mosa ◽  
Sameh Soliman
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Light Quality ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Germination Rate ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Germination Percentage ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
One Year ◽  
Native And Introduced Ranges ◽  
Seed Dormancy And Germination

Seed dormancy and germination have been studied in the genetic model Brachypodium species complex in cooler, moist higher latitudes. Studying environmental factors in arid mountains affecting dormancy and germination in Brachypodium complex could determine the factors controlling these processes. This study assesses the impacts of temperature during seed maturation, seed after-ripening, drought, photoperiod, and thermoperiod on final germination and germination rate index of B. hybridum in the Arabian Desert. Seeds were germinated under dark or light conditions and under different ratios of red:far-red light, with three diurnal thermoperiods. The final germination percentage was significantly greater at 15/25 °C and 20/30 °C than at 25/35 °C and in light rather than in darkness. Seeds that reached maturity at 15/25 °C attained greater germination rates and faster germination than those that reached maturity at 20/30 °C. One-year after-ripening enhanced the final germination percentage and reduced photoperiod requirements. Light quality did not affect final germination percentage. The seeds tolerated drought of up to –0.8 MPa polyethylene glycol. The tolerance of B. hybridum seeds produced at higher thermoperiods to moderate levels of osmotic stress and their higher dormancy indicate that this species has the potential to survive the projected global warming in its native and introduced ranges.

Physical dormancy in seeds of six genera of Australian Rhamnaceae

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.R. Turner ◽  
D.J. Merritt ◽  
C.C. Baskin ◽  
K.W. Dixon ◽  
J.M. Baskin
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Restoration Ecology ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Optimum Temperature ◽  
Physical Dormancy ◽  
South West ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
High Germination

Physical dormancy (PY) was identified in six genera representative of Australian Rhamnaceae and subsequently was broken, based on identification of key seed dormancy characteristics: (1) isolation and classification of embryo features; (2) imbibition experiments to determine the rate and amount of water uptake in seeds; and (3) determination of optimum temperature regimes for germination. All six species had relatively large spatulate embryos. Imbibition studies showed all species possessed PY (i.e. a water-impervious seed coat) that was broken by a hot-water treatment. Alleviation of PY resulted in high germination (<70%) at 7/18°C, temperatures similar to winter in south-west Western Australia. Germination was suppressed at higher temperatures and in the presence of light. The study adds information to our knowledge of seed dormancy in Australian Rhamnaceae, and highlights the benefits of understanding dormancy states in seeds prior to evaluating dormancy-release mechanisms on wild species used in restoration ecology and horticulture.

scholarly journals Some practical notes on the land surface modeling in the Tibetan Plateau

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1291-1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Yang ◽  
Y.-Y. Chen ◽  
J. Qin
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
Alpine Meadows ◽  
Common Land Model

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau is a key region of land-atmosphere interactions, as it provides an elevated heat source to the middle-troposphere. The Plateau surfaces are typically characterized by alpine meadows and grasslands in the central and eastern part while by alpine deserts in the western part. This study evaluates performance of three state-of-the-art land surface models (LSMs) for the Plateau typical land surfaces. The LSMs of interest are SiB2 (the Simple Biosphere), CoLM (Common Land Model), and Noah. They are run with default parameters at typical alpine meadow sites in the central Plateau and typical alpine desert sites in the western Plateau. The recognized key processes and modeling issues are as follows. First, soil stratification is a typical phenomenon beneath the alpine meadows, with dense roots and soil organic matters within the topsoil, and it controls the profile of soil moisture in the central and eastern Plateau; all models significantly under-estimate the soil moisture within the topsoil. Second, a soil surface resistance controls the surface evaporation from the alpine deserts but it has not been reasonably modeled in LSMs; a new scheme is proposed to determine this resistance from soil water content. Third, an excess resistance controls sensible heat fluxes from dry bare-soil or sparsely vegetated surfaces, and all LSMs significantly under-predict the ground-air temperature difference in the daytime. A parameterization scheme for this resistance has been shown effective to remove this bias.

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