Temporal Variability in Microclimatic Conditions for Grass Germination and Emergence in the Sagebrush Steppe

Hardegree, Stuart P.; Sheley, Roger L.; Duke, Sara E.; James, Jeremy J.; Boehm, Alex R.; Flerchinger, G. N.

doi:10.1016/j.rama.2015.12.002

Cited by 31 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Regardless of the source of the disturbance, natural environmental variability can also impose severe constraints on the timing and location of suitable microsites for establishment in any given year (Hardegree et al , ). Various seed enhancement techniques and technologies can be designed to shift the germination behavior of a given seed population to compensate for environmental changes that have diminished the probability of successful establishment (Angevine & Chabot ).…”

Section: Is Fast and Synchronized Germination Always Better? Bet‐hedgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed enhancement: getting seeds restoration‐ready

Pedrini

Balestrazzi

Madsen

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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106

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Seed enhancement technologies such as seed priming and seed coating, developed by the agricultural seed industry, are standard procedures for the majority of crop and horticultural seeds. However, such technologies are only just being evaluated for native plant seeds despite the potential benefits of such treatments for improving restoration effectiveness. Key approaches applicable to native seed include: (1) seed priming, where seeds are hydrated under controlled conditions, and (2) seed coating, in which external materials and compounds are applied onto seeds through a diversity of treatments. These technologies are commonly employed to accelerate and synchronize germination and to improve seed vigor, seedling emergence, establishment, and to facilitate mechanized seed delivery to site, through standardizing seed size and shape. Seed enhancement technologies have now been tested on native seeds to overcome logistical and ecological barriers in restoration. However, further research is needed to extend the application of seed enhancements to a broader array of species, ecosystems, and regions as well as to evaluate new and innovative approaches such as the incorporation of beneficial soil microorganisms and plant growth regulators in the coatings. As techniques in native seed enhancement develop, these approaches need to be capable of being scaled‐up to provide the tonnages of seed required for global restoration.

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Section: Is Fast and Synchronized Germination Always Better? Bet‐hedgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed enhancement: getting seeds restoration‐ready

Pedrini

Balestrazzi

Madsen

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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106

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“…Subsequently, once Ψ b is determined, seed germination timing and number of germinable seeds may be accurately predicted from soil temperature. Field trials have validated wet-thermal accumulation models (Rawlins, Roundy, Egget, & Cline, 2012;Rawlins, Roundy, Davis et al, 2012), and confirmed their utility in predicting seed germination in a number of settings, with a wide variety of species (Cline, Roundy, & Christensen, 2018a,b;Hardegree, Sheley et al, 2016). Despite the simplicity of wet-thermal accumulation models, a relatively large amount of data and processing is required to develop the models and estimate seed germination timing in the field.…”

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confidence: 91%

Use of auto‐germ to model germination timing in the sagebrush‐steppe

Richardson

Whitaker

Sant

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Germination timing has a strong influence on direct seeding efforts, and therefore is a closely tracked demographic stage in a wide variety of wildland and agricultural settings. Predictive seed germination models, based on soil moisture and temperature data in the seed zone are an efficient method of estimating germination timing. We utilized Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to create Auto‐Germ, which is an Excel workbook that allows a user to estimate field germination timing based on wet‐thermal accumulation models and field temperature and soil moisture data. To demonstrate the capabilities of Auto‐Germ, we calculated various germination indices and modeled germination timing for 11 different species, across 6 years, and 10 Artemisia‐steppe sites in the Great Basin of North America to identify the planting date required for 50% or more of the simulated population to germinate in spring (1 March or later), which is when conditions are predicted to be more conducive for plant establishment. Both between and within the species, germination models indicated that there was high temporal and spatial variability in the planting date required for spring germination to occur. However, some general trends were identified, with species falling roughly into three categories, where seeds could be planted on average in either fall (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis and Leymus cinereus), early winter (Festuca idahoensis, Poa secunda, Elymus lanceolatus, Elymus elymoides, and Linum lewisii), or mid‐winter (Achillea millefolium, Elymus wawawaiensis, and Pseudoroegneria spicata) and still not run the risk of germination during winter. These predictions made through Auto‐Germ demonstrate that fall may not be an optimal time period for sowing seeds for most non‐dormant species if the desired goal is to have seeds germinate in spring.

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“…While year to year variation in environmental conditions is known to influence seedling establishment (Hardegree, Jones, et al, ), short‐term variation in environmental conditions immediately following seeding may also influence seeding recruitment in the Great Basin. Simulations of daily seedbed microenvironmental conditions, for example, show that the probability and duration of drought and freezing temperatures following seeding vary significantly among years (Hardegree, Sheley, et al, ) and altering seeding timing by as little as 4 weeks has resulted in a threefold change in seedling recruitment (Boyd & James, ). Neither earlier nor later seeding consistently increases recruitment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased soil temperature and decreased precipitation during early life stages constrain grass seedling recruitment in cold desert restoration

James

Sheley

Leger

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Seed-based restoration is one of the most difficult challenges for dryland restoration. Identifying environmental conditions that drive variation in seed and seedling mortality across similar restoration efforts could increase understanding of when and where restoration outcomes are likely to be favourable and identify new tools and strategies to improve outcomes.2. We asked how variation in a suite of environmental predictors influenced germination, emergence, seedling establishment and juvenile survival of four commonly sown perennial grass species across 33 seeding experiments distributed over an ~160,000-km 2 area of the Great Basin, a cold desert system in the western United States.3. Across experiments, we observed wide variation in the rates of four demographic transitions and wide variation in environmental conditions experienced by plants at each stage. For all species, higher precipitation during the first 30 days following seeding was associated with an increase in germination. Conversely, higher soil temperature over this same time period was associated with a significant decrease in germination and emergence, and soil temperature was associated with a substantial portion of the variation in germination and emergence probabilities observed across our seeding experiments. 4. Within the range of precipitation variation observed, we were unable to detect a significant relationship between seedling establishment the first growing season and cumulative precipitation the first year, precipitation during the first spring growing season or annual climatic water deficit (CWD) the first year. Higher CWD the second growing season reduced seedling survival over that time period. Synthesis and applications.Our results show higher soil temperature negatively impacts grass seedling establishment. Restoration efforts should be prioritized when seasonal or subseasonal temperature forecasts indicate likely periods of below average temperatures. These results also indicate that climate warming will make 2610 |

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Temporal Variability in Microclimatic Conditions for Grass Germination and Emergence in the Sagebrush Steppe

Cited by 31 publications

References 47 publications

Seed enhancement: getting seeds restoration‐ready

Seed enhancement: getting seeds restoration‐ready

Use of auto‐germ to model germination timing in the sagebrush‐steppe

Increased soil temperature and decreased precipitation during early life stages constrain grass seedling recruitment in cold desert restoration

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