Germination Biology of Two Invasive Physalis Species and Implications for Their Management in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Abstract

Two Solanaceae invasive plant species (Physalis angulata L. and P. philadelphica Lam. var. immaculata Waterfall) infest several arable crops and natural habitats in Southeastern Anatolia region, Turkey. However, almost no information is available regarding germination biology of both species. We performed several experiments to infer the effects of environmental factors on seed germination and seedling emergence of different populations of both species collected from various locations with different elevations and habitat characteristics. Seed dormancy level of all populations was decreased with increasing age of the seeds. Seed dormancy of freshly harvested and aged seeds of all populations was effectively released by running tap water. Germination was slightly affected by photoperiods, which suggests that seeds are slightly photoblastic. All seeds germinated under wide range of temperature (15–40 °C), pH (4–10), osmotic potential (0 to −1.2 MPa) and salinity (0–400 mM sodium chloride) levels. The germination ability of both plant species under wide range of environmental conditions suggests further invasion potential towards non-infested areas in the country. Increasing seed burial depth significantly reduced the seedling emergence, and seeds buried below 4 cm of soil surface were unable to emerge. In arable lands, soil inversion to maximum depth of emergence (i.e., 6 cm) followed by conservational tillage could be utilized as a viable management option.

Germination Biology of Sesbania (Sesbania cannabina): An Emerging Weed in the Australian Cotton Agro-environment

“…(Chauhan and Johnson 2008a), barnyardgrass ( Echinochloa glabrescens Munro ex Hook. F.) (Opeña et al 2014), cutleaf groundcherry ( Physalis angulata L.) (Ozaslan et al 2017), tomatillo ( Physalis philadelphica Lam. var.…”

“…var. immaculata Waterfall) (Ozaslan et al 2017), and littleseed canarygrass ( Phalaris minor Retz.) (Sethi and Kaur 2016).…”

“…Weed seed germination biology and seedling emergence are highly affected by many environmental factors and stressors like light, temperature, salt stress, osmotic stress, soil pH, and depth of seed burial, as the developing embryo may be affected by changes in nutrient supply and hormones under differential growth conditions (Ahmed et al 2015; Bajwa et al 2018; Baskin and Baskin 2014; Ozaslan et al 2017; Willis et al 2014). Previous germination studies on wand riverhemp [ Sesbania virgata (Cav.)…”

Germination bi­ology of Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch. (Vi­taceae)

“…var. immaculate Waterfall (Ozaslan et al 2017). It is key-feature for distribution of such species in diverse habitats.…”

Physalis angulata L. (Solanaceae), naturalizada en la Península Ibérica

“…Considerando que P. angulata es una especie anual, la causa más probable de su abundancia en estos campos es la contaminación de una partida de granos de maíz con semillas de Physalis, lo que también podría explicar la aparición local de Nicandra. Su persistencia en esa zona en los próximos años parece casi segura, pues produce grandes cantidades de semillas que tienen una alta capacidad de germinar y de persistir viables en el suelo (Travlos, 2012;Ozaslan et al, 2017).…”