Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
Volume 102, Issue 5, Pages 649-660Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1400507
Keywords
desert; Fabaceae; hydrotime; legume; physical dormancy; scarification; subalpine grassland; thermal time
Categories
Funding
- Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University [IRT13019]
- Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest [201403048-3]
- Natural Science Foundation for the Youth of China [31001030]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Premise of the study: Temperature and water potential for germination based on the thermal and hydrotime models have been successfully applied in predicting germination requirements of physiologically dormant seeds as well as nondormant seeds. However, comparative studies of the germination requirements of physically dormant seeds from different ecosystems have not been done. Methods: Germination of scarified seeds of four legume species collected from the Qing-Tibetan Plateau and of four collected in the Alax Desert in China was compared over a range of temperatures and water potentials based on thermal time and hydrotime models. Key results: Seeds of species from the Qing-Tibetan Plateau had a lower base temperature (T-b) and optimal temperature (T-o) for germination than those from the Alax Desert. Seeds of the four species from the Qing-Tibetan Plateau germinated to high percentages at 5 degrees C, whereas none of the four desert species did so. Seeds of species from the Alax Desert germinated to a high percentage at 35 degrees C or 40 degrees C, while no seeds of species from the Qing-Tibetan Plateau germinated at 35 degrees C or 40 degrees C. The base median water potential [Psi(b(50))] differed among species but not between the two habitats. Conclusions: The thermal time and hydrotime models accurately predicted the germination time course of scarified seeds of most of the eight species in response to temperature and water potential; thus, they can be useful tools in comparative studies on germination of seeds with physical dormancy. Habitat temperatures but not rainfall is closely related to germination requirements of these species.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available