Strong light inhibits germination of Artemisia sphaerocephala and A. ordosica at low temperature and its relevance to revegetation in sandy lands of Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

Strong light inhibits germination of Artemisia sphaerocephala and A. ordosica at low temperature and its relevance to revegetation in sandy lands of Inner Abstract Artemisia sphaerocephala and A. ordosica are two dominant shrub species in Mu Us sandy land (Inner Mongolia, China) and are widely used for vegetation restoration. However, there are two different conclusions about the effect of light on their germination: light promotes germination versus light inhibits germination. The aim of this study was to evaluate these two conclusions and relate the results to instances of failure of these two species to germinate well when air-dispersed in revegetation projects. The effects of fluctuating temperature, light/dark, source (population), position on mother plant, storage condition, and storage time were tested on germination of achenes of these two species. At low temperature, final percent germination (FPG) of achenes in dark and nearly dark conditions was significantly higher than those in light. At 10:20°C, achenes of both A. sphaerocephala and A. ordosica had higher FPG in dark than in light regardless of source, position on mother plants or storage condition. At suboptimum (5:15°C) and supraoptimal (25:35°C) temperatures, germination of A. sphaerocephala and A. ordosica achenes was inhibited in both light and darkness. It was concluded that light inhibits germination of A. sphaerocephala and A. ordosica achenes at low (10:20°C) temperature but not at high (15:25°C) temperature. Since the temperature in Mu Us sandy land is around 10:20°C in early June, when air sowing is done, achenes should germinate best when they are covered by a thin layer of sand.

Variability of seed oil content, fatty acid composition, and nervonic acid content in <em>Acer truncatum</em>, native to 14 regions of China

“…In our study, precipitation exhibited a significant negative correlation with C18:2 (-0.790) and a significant positive correlation with C24:1 (0.592). In addition, researchers have noted that an increase in altitude has tended to promote greater UFA content (with subsequently lower SFA content), possibly because altitude increases lead to lower temperatures and higher exposure to light (Dewhurst and King, 1998;Lai et al, 2010). However, this relationship is in contrast to the results of this study, which coincide with Vicia sativa by Mao et al, (2012) who found that other environmental factors besides temperature and light intensity, such as soil and air, may also influence the lipid metabolism of plants.…”

Seed germination of seven desert plants and implications for vegetation restoration

“…Thus, a dark requirement for germination would be adaptive for species distributed in sandy areas. Several studies have shown that the germination of many plants that inhabit sandy soils were stimulated by dark conditions ( Gutterman 1993 ; Zheng et al 2004 , 2005 a , b ; Lai et al 2010 ). In our study, the seeds of all seven species germinated well in the dark, indicating that burial in sand can increase the germination of these species.…”

“…For example, seeds of the sandy-habitat species Trachyandra divaricata cannot germinate in red light ( Bell 1993 ), and germination of the two grass species Festuca hallii and Koeleria macrantha is strongly inhibited by light ( Federico et al 2014 ). Seeds of the sandy-land species Artemisia ordosica and Artemisia sphaerocephala only germinate in darkness ( Zheng et al , 2005 a , b ; Lai et al 2010 ). In sandy areas, seeds are often buried in sand at various depths, or they may disperse into shaded areas ( Maun 1998 ; Zheng et al 2005 c ).…”

Phylogeny, habitat together with biological and ecological factors can influence germination of 36 subalpine Rhododendron species from the eastern Tibetan Plateau

“…where n represented the number of seeds being processed and G i represented the number of seeds germinating. A large GR value meant that seed germinated quickly (Lai et al., ; Zheng et al., ). All statistical analyses, including the test for homogeneity of variance, were performed using the SPSS 18.0 package (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA).…”