The drought鄄resistant shrubs Caragana korshinskii, Caragana stenophylla, Caragana roborovskyi, and Caragana tibetica, are distributed mainly in the arid and semi鄄arid areas of the Inner Mongolia Plateau, China. They are important plants for fodder resource, and are known as " lifesaving plants冶 to livestock. In addition, they play an important role in fixing sand dunes and conserving water resources. So far, however, very little attention has been paid to the factors determining the sand鄄fixing capability of Caragana shrubs. In this study, we explored the relationships between the
Seed germination and early seedling growth are the stages in a plant忆s life cycle during which it is most sensitive to environmental stresses. The adaptability of an alien plant at this stage to unfavorable environmental conditions is one of the key factors determining its invasiveness. In this study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of dormancy features, storage time, pericarp, temperature, pH, osmotic stress, salt stress and seed burial depth on seed germination, seedling growth and seedling emergence in Gaura parviflora. Although the four seeds of each capsule were found to differ significantly with respect to weight (P < 0.01) , their vigor and germination rates were similar to one another. Seed vigor was greater than 96%, and germination was higher than 98% after release from dormancy. The pericarp of G. parviflora affected seed germination via physical obstruction, and was the major cause of seed dormancy. After storage at room temperature, G. parviflora seed germination initially increased; at longer storage times, however, it decreased. Prior to
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