The effect of soil water potential on seed germination of some British plants

Evans, Ceri E.; Etherington, John

doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1990.tb00482.x

Cited by 177 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…Additionally, dry periods during the rainy season may influence recruitment patterns in gaps through effects on seed germination and initial seedling emergence. Soil water potentials that are similar to or higher than those measured in this experiment are sufficient to significantly reduce seed germination rates in pioneer species (Evans and Etherington 1990;Daws et al 2002), and germination sensitivity to soil water potentials shows strong interspecific variation (Daws et al 2002). We expect that the vulnerability of pioneer seedlings to wet-season drought decreases once they have made it through the initial tiny stages, and have developed a root system extending to soil layers not affected by superficial drying processes (Fig.…”

Section: Drought In Tropical Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short dry spells in the wet season increase mortality of tropical pioneer seedlings

et al. 2006

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Variation in plant species performance in response to water availability offers a potential axis for temporal and spatial habitat partitioning and may therefore affect community composition in tropical forests. We hypothesized that short dry spells during the wet season are a significant source of mortality for the newly emerging seedlings of pioneer species that recruit in treefall gaps in tropical forests. An analysis of a 49-year rainfall record for three forests across a rainfall gradient in central Panama confirmed that dry spells of ‡10 days during the wet season occur on average once a year in a deciduous forest, and once every other year in a semi-deciduous moist and an evergreen wet forest. The effect of wet season dry spells on the recruitment of pioneers was investigated by comparing seedling survival in rain-protected dry plots and irrigated control plots in four large artificially created treefall gaps in a semi-deciduous tropical forest. In rain-protected plots surface soil layers dried rapidly, leading to a strong gradient in water potential within the upper 10 cm of soil. Seedling survival for six pioneer species was significantly lower in rain-protected than in irrigated control plots after only 4 days. The strength of the irrigation effect differed among species, and first became apparent 3-10 days after treatments started. Root allocation patterns were significantly, or marginally significantly, different between species and between two groups of larger and smaller seeded species. However, they were not correlated with seedling drought sensitivity, suggesting allocation is not a key trait for drought sensitivity in pioneer seedlings. Our data provide strong evidence that short dry spells in the wet season differentially affect seedling survivorship of pioneer species, and may therefore have important implications to seedling demography and community dynamics.

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Section: Drought In Tropical Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short dry spells in the wet season increase mortality of tropical pioneer seedlings

et al. 2006

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“…Results showed that provenance 2 had a higher germination percentage of the stressed seeds at -0.03 MPa compared with non-stressed seeds. Seed germination percentage and Kotowski's coefficient generally decrease as soil water potential decreases (Evans, Etherington, 1990;Oberbauer, Miller, 1982), either by drought or by higher salinity. By increasing water stress, similar results were found on germination of Diospyros texana seeds that decreased from about 95% to 45% at 0 and -0.6 MPa, respectively (Everitt, 1984), whereas germination of three deciduous semi-shrubs of genus Artemisia was inhibited severely in PEG 6000 solutions at -1.…”

Section: Salinity and Drought Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing seed germination of the pastoral plant Retama raetam subsp. bovei (Fabaceae): interactive effects of fruit morphology, salinity, and osmotic stress

Mechergui¹,

Mahmoudi²,

Khouja³

et al. 2017

biologija

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The aim of this work was to study the morphology of retama seeds and the combined effects of salt and water stress on the seeds germination of four Tunisian populations of Retama raetam. Seeds were harvested from Bouhedma National Park, Meknassi, Oueslatia, and Rtiba. In this study we were interested in evaluating different parameters of germination in presence of the salinity and osmotic stress. The results revealed that this species can withstand salinity up to 15 g/l of salt (the germination percentage of the Rtiba population reached 42%) and it can also tolerate severe drought resulted in significant doses of PEG 6000 (germination percentage reached 29% to the water potential of -1.6 MPa of Oueslatia population). The morphological traits of the seeds were measured to find a relationship between the size of the seeds and their germination capacity under salinity and osmotic stress. Results have shown that for the correlation between morphological traits of seeds and the germination percentage, the seed weight is a major factor in promoting germination under stress and confirmed that saline water and sprouting inhibition have impact on the small caliber of seeds.

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“…» Germination and seedling survival are the next 'sieves' in the life history of plants by which hydrology might play a structuring role in vegetation develop ment (Keddy & Ellis, 1985;Moore & Keddy, 1988 (Hürlimann, 1951;Van der Toorn, 1972;Haslam, 1973;Rodewald-Rudescu, 1974), Phalaris arundinacea (Junttila, Landgraff & Nilsen, 1978), S. lacustris (Seidel, 1955) and Typha spp. (Yeo, 1964;Bedish, 1967;Grace & Harrison, 1986;Frankland, Bartley & Spence, 1987;Evans & Etherington, 1990). On exposed soil surfaces, moisture availability in the germination period depends not only on the groundwater level, but is correlated with the particle size of the sediment as well (Keddy & Constabel, 1982).…”

Section: Seeds Of Scirpus Lacustrismentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed dispersal, germination and seedling growth of six helophyte species in relation to water‐level zonation

1995

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SUMMARY 1. Seed dispersal, germination, and seedling growth characteristics of six helophyte species. Iris pseudacorus, Phalaris arundinacea, Phragmites australis, Typha angustifolia, T. latifolia and Scirpus lacustris, were investigated in relation to their water‐level zonation. 2. The experiments demonstrated a large variation in these characteristics between the species. 3. Propagule floating capacities range from < 1 h (S. lacustris) to > 1000 h (I. pseudacorus). 4. Seed germination in a water‐level gradient revealed two groups with respect to germination percentage ‐ exposed soil species (I. pseudacorus, Phalaris arundinacea, Phragmites australis) and submerged soil species (T. angustifolia, T. latifolia). 5. There were two contrasting types of seedling growth response to submergence and exposure: one group of species formed longest leaves under exposed conditions (Phalaris arundinacea, Phragmites australis, I. pseudacorus), and the other under submerged conditions (S. lacustris, T. latifolia, T. angustifolia). 6. The results suggest that early life‐history characteristics of the species relate to their locations in the riparian zonation: Phalaris arundinacea and Iris pseudacorus at the higher end, Phragmites australis intermediate, and Typha spp. and Scirpus lacustris at the lower end. Species occurring at lower locations show adaptations to (periodical) flooding of the soil (submersed germination and growth), while those from higher locations require prolonged exposed soil conditions to germinate and to survive the establishment stage.

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The effect of soil water potential on seed germination of some British plants

Cited by 177 publications

References 29 publications

Short dry spells in the wet season increase mortality of tropical pioneer seedlings

Short dry spells in the wet season increase mortality of tropical pioneer seedlings

Factors influencing seed germination of the pastoral plant Retama raetam subsp. bovei (Fabaceae): interactive effects of fruit morphology, salinity, and osmotic stress

Seed dispersal, germination and seedling growth of six helophyte species in relation to water‐level zonation

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