scholarly journals Lower dormancy with rapid germination is an important strategy for seeds in an arid zone with unpredictable rainfall

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corrine Duncan ◽  
Nick Schultz ◽  
Wolfgang Lewandrowski ◽  
Megan Good ◽  
Simon Cook
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Seed Viability ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Adult Plant ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Seed Traits ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Diurnal Temperatures

AbstractSeed germination traits are key drivers of population dynamics, yet they are under-represented in community ecology studies, which have predominately focussed on adult plant and seed morphological traits. We studied the seed traits and germination strategy of eight woody plant species to investigate regeneration strategies in the arid zone of eastern Australia. To cope with stochastic and minimal rainfall, we predict that arid seeds will either have rapid germination across a wide range of temperatures, improved germination under cooler temperatures, or dormancy and/or longevity traits to delay or stagger germination across time. To understand how temperature affects germination responses, seeds of eight keystone arid species were germinated under laboratory conditions, and under three diurnal temperatures (30/20°C, 25/15°C and 17/7°C) for 30 days. Seeds of species in this study are currently stored for minesite restoration projects, hence we tested for decline in seed viability across 24 months in dry storage at similar storage conditions (≈20°C). Six of the eight arid species studied had non-dormant, rapidly germinating seeds, and only two species had physiological dormancy traits. Seed longevity differed widely between species, from one recalcitrant species surviving only months in storage (P50 = <3 months) and one serotinous species surviving for many years (P50 = 84 months). Our results highlight the importance of understanding the reproductive strategies of plant species in arid environments. Rapid germination, the dominant seed trait of species included in this study, allows arid species to capitalise on sporadic rainfall. However, some species also exhibit dormancy and delayed germination; this an alternative strategy which spreads the risk of germination failure over time. We highlight important seed traits and germination strategies of plants from an arid zone with stochastic rainfall and discuss the implications for their restoration.

Lost in time and space: re-assessment of conservation status in an arid-zone flora through targeted field survey

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 674 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Silcock ◽  
A. J. Healy ◽  
R. J. Fensham
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Arid Zones ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
The Status ◽  
Conservation Assessments

Lack of basic data to assess plant species against IUCN Red List criteria is a major impediment to assigning accurate conservation status throughout large areas of the world. Erroneous assessments will be most prevalent in vast poorly surveyed areas where herbarium collections are sparse. In arid environments, assessments are further confounded by extreme temporal variability and poor understanding of the nature and magnitude of threats. We systematically re-assess the conservation status of an arid-zone flora. The status of all 1781 vascular plant species occurring across 635 300 km2 of inland eastern Australia was initially assessed through herbarium records and expert interviews. This process generated a list of apparently rare and potentially threatened species, which guided a targeted survey program over 4 years. Search effort and key data on populations of candidate species found were recorded and used to assess 91 species against IUCN criteria. One-third of species were widespread and abundant at least in certain seasons, but had been deemed rare due to sparse collections. The conservation status of 20, mostly newly recognised species from restricted habitats, was upgraded and 14 remained listed because of having restricted areas of occupancy. With the exception of 12 artesian spring species, continuing declines were documented for just six species. The criterion that allows for listing of species because of extreme fluctuations (in combination with restricted and fragmented populations) needs to be carefully interpreted in arid zones, where these fluctuations may be apparent rather than real, and may actually confer resilience to grazing for some species. Our approach facilitates robust conservation assessments across vast and poorly known arid regions, distinguishing species that have merely been lost in space and time from those that are at risk of extinction.

Inferring Invasion Paths Into Cotton by Creontiades dilutus (Hemiptera: Miridae) From Arid Zone and Agricultural Sources

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
J K Cappadonna ◽  
J P Hereward ◽  
G H Walter
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Host Use ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Agricultural Pests ◽  
Cotton Production ◽  
Multiple Host Plant Species

Abstract Managing agricultural pests that use multiple host plant species is a challenge when individuals move between host plants in natural vegetation and agricultural environments. The green mirid (Creontiades dilutus) Stål (Hemiptera: Miridae) is endemic to Australia and routinely invades cotton from local uncultivated vegetation, but may also originate from remote locations in the arid continental interior. This bug is polyphagous and highly mobile, which contributes to its pest status in cotton L. (Malvaceae) systems as well as its persistence in arid environments with sparsely distributed ephemeral host plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate how C. dilutus individuals use a variety of host species across remote arid regions and highly managed agricultural landscapes. Structured field surveys spanning vast areas across the Simpson Desert in the arid heart of Australia, as well as subcoastal cotton production systems, were designed to evaluate host use across environments that share few plant species. High numbers of C. dilutus were collected from Cullen australasicum (Schltdl.) J.W.Grimes (Fabaceae) (perennial hosts) and Goodenia cycloptera R.Br. (Goodeniaceae) (ephemeral hosts) in the desert following rain. In agricultural environments, C. dilutus bugs were mostly found on irrigated Medicago sativa L. (Fabaceae) (lucerne), and to a lesser extent Melilotus indicus (L.) All. (Fabaceae) near rivers. Significantly, bugs were on these plants prior to the planting of cotton across all environments surveyed. These data allow inferences relating host use, host abundance, and insect migration to one another to understand the connection that C. dilutus bugs have between arid and agricultural environments.

scholarly journals Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s Seed Information Database (SID): A compilation of taxon-based biological seed characteristics or traits

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udayangani Liu ◽  
Tiziana Antonella Cossu ◽  
John Dickie
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Seed Viability ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Seed Traits ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Plant Seed ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Royal Botanic Gardens ◽  
Seed Characteristics ◽  
Information Database

The Seed Information Database (SID) is one of the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew's strategic databases in the public domain (http://data.kew.org/sid). SID is a compilation of taxon-based information on a range of biological seed characteristics or traits for about 52,564 seed plant taxa. Assembling and mobilizing such data involved challenges in establishing data standards for specific seed traits and taxonomy and integrating data sets from different sources. Data are derived from seed collections stored at the RBG Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) and from other published and unpublished sources. Seed traits data available in SID includes (number of records in brackets): storage behaviour (24,926), seed weights (86,287) seed dispersal (5,377), germination (54, 453), oil content (4,526), protein content (3,603), morphology (599), morphology images (1,741), halophytes (1,546) and viability constants (72). Database can be searched for any, or all of these categories by clade, order, family, genus, or species. SID also offers various online tools useful for ex situ seed conservation and storage (e.g. seed viability equation to predict the proportion of seeds in a population that are viable after any period of storage in a wide range of environments). SID data has been used by a wider community (general public, researches, conservationists, policymakers, etc.) in a range of disciplines including biodiversity conservation, food security, climate change, agriculture, and seed industry across the globe for large-scale analysis, modelling, predicting, or describing plant seed traits.

The content of decenoic acids in drone brood preparations and combined preparations based on it

Biomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-393
Author(s):  
D.V. Mitrofanov ◽  
N.V. Budnikova
Keyword(s):  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Biologically Active Substances ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
Drone Brood ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Active Substances ◽  
Melanin Complex

The drone brood contains a large number of substances with antioxidant activity. These substances require stabilization and strict adherence to storage conditions. Among these substances are unique decenoic acids, the content of which is an indicator of the quality of drone brood and products based on it. The ability of drone brood to reduce the manifestations of oxidative stress is shown. There are dietary supplements for food and drugs based on drone brood, which are used for a wide range of diseases. Together with drone brood, chitosan-containing products, propolis, royal jelly can be used. They enrich the composition with their own biologically active substances and affect the preservation of the biologically active substances of the drone brood. Promising are the products containing, in addition to the drone brood, a chitin-chitosan-melanin complex from bees, propolis, royal jelly. The chitin-chitosan-melanin complex in the amount of 5% in the composition of the adsorbent practically does not affect the preservation of decenic acids, while in the amount of 2% and 10% it somewhat worsens. The acid-soluble and water-soluble chitosan of marine crustaceans significantly worsens the preservation of decenoic acids in the product. Drone brood with royal jelly demonstrates a rather high content of decenoic acids. When propolis is introduced into the composition of the product, the content of decenoic acids increases according to the content of propolis.

scholarly journals Advances and Applications of Water Phytoremediation: A Potential Biotechnological Approach for the Treatment of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Water

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5215
Author(s):  
Cristián Raziel Delgado-González ◽  
Alfredo Madariaga-Navarrete ◽  
José Miguel Fernández-Cortés ◽  
Margarita Islas-Pelcastre ◽  
Goldie Oza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Pollution Sources ◽  
Water Contaminants ◽  
Biotechnological Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
Multidisciplinary Perspective ◽  
Viable Method

Potable and good-quality drinking water availability is a serious global concern, since several pollution sources significantly contribute to low water quality. Amongst these pollution sources, several are releasing an array of hazardous agents into various environmental and water matrices. Unfortunately, there are not very many ecologically friendly systems available to treat the contaminated environment exclusively. Consequently, heavy metal water contamination leads to many diseases in humans, such as cardiopulmonary diseases and cytotoxicity, among others. To solve this problem, there are a plethora of emerging technologies that play an important role in defining treatment strategies. Phytoremediation, the usage of plants to remove contaminants, is a technology that has been widely used to remediate pollution in soils, with particular reference to toxic elements. Thus, hydroponic systems coupled with bioremediation for the removal of water contaminants have shown great relevance. In this review, we addressed several studies that support the development of phytoremediation systems in water. We cover the importance of applied science and environmental engineering to generate sustainable strategies to improve water quality. In this context, the phytoremediation capabilities of different plant species and possible obstacles that phytoremediation systems may encounter are discussed with suitable examples by comparing different mechanistic processes. According to the presented data, there are a wide range of plant species with water phytoremediation potential that need to be studied from a multidisciplinary perspective to make water phytoremediation a viable method.

scholarly journals Native Plant Capacity for Gentle Remediation in Heavily Polluted Mines

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1769
Author(s):  
María Noelia Jiménez ◽  
Gianluigi Bacchetta ◽  
Francisco Bruno Navarro ◽  
Mauro Casti ◽  
Emilia Fernández-Ondoño
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Contaminated Soils ◽  
Aerial Part ◽  
Bioaccumulation Factor ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Dittrichia Viscosa ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cistus Salviifolius ◽  
Plant Capacity

The use of plant species to stabilize and accumulate trace elements in contaminated soils is considered of great usefulness given the difficulty of decontaminating large areas subjected to mining for long periods. In this work, the bioaccumulation of trace elements is studied by relating the concentrations in leaves and roots of three plants of Mediterranean distribution (Dittrichia viscosa, Cistus salviifolius, Euphorbia pithyusa subsp. cupanii) with the concentrations of trace elements in contaminated and uncontaminated soils. Furthermore, in the case of D. viscosa, to know the concentration of each element by biomass, the pool of trace elements was determined both in the aerial part and in the roots. The bioaccumulation factor was not high enough in any of the species studied to be considered as phytoextractors. However, species like the ones studied in this work that live on soils with a wide range of concentration of trace elements and that develop a considerable biomass could be considered for stabilization of contaminated soils. The plant species studied in this work are good candidates for gentle-remediation options in the polluted Mediterranean.

scholarly journals Seed germination requirements of Hypericum scruglii, an endangered medicinal plant species of Sardinia (Italy)

Botany ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (10) ◽  
pp. 615-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Porceddu ◽  
Martina Sanna ◽  
Sara Serra ◽  
Maria Manconi ◽  
Gianluigi Bacchetta
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Seed Viability ◽  
Base Temperature ◽  
Endemic Plant ◽  
Endangered Medicinal Plant ◽  
High Viability ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Germination Requirements

Hypericum scruglii Bacch., Brullo & Salmeri is an endangered endemic plant of Sardinia, and the phloroglucinol compounds identified in this species have been reported to inhibit the activity of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Seed banks are a genetic repository that effectively preserve taxa of conservation interest, and they hold knowledge about the biology and germination ecophysiology of the taxa they preserve. The main goals of this study were to investigate the germination requirements for H. scruglii, to evaluate the seed viability after eight years of long-term conservation and to suggest an efficient protocol for germination. Seeds stored at –25 °C in the seed bank were tested at temperatures from 5 to 30 °C and 25/10 °C. Base temperature (Tb) and thermal time (θ50) for germination were estimated. Seeds of H. scruglii germinated over a wide range of temperatures, responding positively to high temperatures and 25/10 °C. Tb was estimated at 4.92 °C, and θ50 was estimated at 198.27 degree days. The high viability detected in seeds of H. scruglii allows us to suggest the use of seeds stored in a seed bank when fresh material for plant propagation is scarce. Our results provide new and useful baseline information for implementing conservation and multiplication strategies for this endangered medicinal plant.

Revision of Coronostrongylus (Nematoda : Strongyloidea) parasitic in the stomachs of macropodid marsupials

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 893 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Beveridge
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Related Species ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Nematode Species ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Nematode Genus ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Species Occurrences

The monotypic nematode genus Coronostrongylus Johnston & Mawson, 1939 from the stomachs of macropodid marsupials was reviewed and was found to consist of a least seven closely related species. Coronostrongylus coronatus Johnston & Mawson, 1939 is found most commonly in Macropus rufogriseus, but occurs occasionally in M. dorsalis, M. parryi and Petrogale inornata. Coronostrongylus johnsoni, sp. nov. is most commonly found in M. dorsalis, but occurs also in M. rufogriseus, M. parma, Thylogale stigmatica, Petrogale godmani and P. brachyotis. Coronostrongylus barkeri, sp. nov. is most prevalent in Onychogalea unguifera, but occurs also in M. rufus, M. robustus and P. brachyotis. Coronostrongylus closei, sp. nov. is restricted to Petrogale persephone. Coronostrongylus sharmani, sp. nov. occurs only in rock wallabies from eastern Australia: P.�coenensis, P. godmani and P. mareeba; C. spratti, sp. nov. occurs in P. inornata and P. assimilis. Coronostrongylus spearei, sp. nov. is restricted to Papua New Guinea where it is found in Dorcopsulus vanhearni, Dorcopsis hageni and D. muelleri. Although all of the nematode species occur in one principal host species or a series of closely related host species, occurrences in geographically disjunct areas and in phylogenetically distant hosts are features of C. coronatus, C. barkeri, sp. nov. and C. johnsoni, sp. nov. The occurrence of seven closely related nematode species found in a wide range of macropodid host species is more readily accounted for by a hypothesis involving multiple colonisations of hosts than by the hypothesis of co-speciation.

scholarly journals Seed longevity of maize conserved under germplasm bank conditions for up to 60 years

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Guzzon ◽  
Maraeva Gianella ◽  
Jose Alejandro Velazquez Juarez ◽  
Cesar Sanchez Cano ◽  
Denise E Costich
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Seed Viability ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Seed Longevity ◽  
Germplasm Bank ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Different Temperatures ◽  
Germination Experiments

Abstract Background and Aims The long-term conservation of seeds of plant genetic resources is of key importance for food security and preservation of agrobiodiversity. Nevertheless, there is scarce information available about seed longevity of many crops under germplasm bank conditions. Methods Through germination experiments as well as the analysis of historical monitoring data, we studied the decline in viability manifested by 1000 maize (Zea mays subsp. mays) seed accessions conserved for an average of 48 years at the CIMMYT germplasm bank, the largest maize seedbank in the world, under two cold storage conditions: an active (–3 °C; intended for seed distribution) and a base conservation chamber (–15 °C; for long-term conservation). Key Results Seed lots stored in the active chamber had a significantly lower and more variable seed germination, averaging 81.4 %, as compared with the seed lots conserved in the base chamber, averaging 92.1 %. The average seed viability detected in this study was higher in comparison with that found in other seed longevity studies on maize conserved under similar conditions. A significant difference was detected in seed germination and longevity estimates (e.g. p85 and p50) among accessions. Correlating seed longevity with seed traits and passport data, grain type showed the strongest correlation, with flint varieties being longer lived than floury and dent types. Conclusions The more rapid loss of seed viability detected in the active chamber suggests that the seed conservation approach, based on the storage of the same seed accessions in two chambers with different temperatures, might be counterproductive for overall long-term conservation and that base conditions should be applied in both. The significant differences detected in seed longevity among accessions underscores that different viability monitoring and regeneration intervals should be applied to groups of accessions showing different longevity profiles.

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