Responses of seed germination of Leymus chinensis to environmental factors in degraded grassland on Songnen Plain in China

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00812

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Our objective is to study the seed germination of Leymus chinensis in response to critical environmental factors, including temperature, water content and drought stress, type of soils and the saline-alkali stress, in order to explain the mechanisms of degradation of L. chinensis grassland on Songnen Plain in China.
Methods We investigated seed germination of L. chinensis under four temperature regimes (two constant 28 °C and 35 °C and three fluctuating 5/28 °C, 5/35 °C and 16/28 °C), 2.5%-40.0% water content and 0-30% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) solution simulating drought stresses, two types of soils (saline-alkali and non-saline-alkali) and two kinds of salts (NaCl with concentrations from 0 to 500 mmol∙L^-1 and Na₂CO₃ from 0 to 100 mmol∙L^-1).
Important findings Fluctuating temperature is a necessary condition for high seed germination of L. chinensis. One of the reasons for grassland degradation in this area is the degraded soil environment where seeds of L. chinensis could not regenerate.

Key words: dormancy, environmental factor, germination, Leymus chinensis, saline-alkali

MA Hong-Yuan, LÜ Bing-Sheng, YANG Hao-Yu, YAN Chao, LIANG Zheng-Wei. Responses of seed germination of Leymus chinensis to environmental factors in degraded grassland on Songnen Plain in China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2012, 36(8): 812-818.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00812

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2012/V36/I8/812

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Germination course of Leymus chinensis seeds under constant and fluctuating temperature conditions (mean ± SE).

Fig. 2 Effects of soil water content on germination percentage of Leymus chinensis seeds (mean ± SE). Significant differences in germination percentage under different soil water content treatments are denoted by different lowercases (p < 0.05).

Fig. 3 Effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 solution with different concentrations on germination percentage of Leymus chinensis seeds (mean ± SE). Significant differences in germination percentage under different PEG concentrations are denoted by different lowercases (p < 0.05).

Fig. 4 Effects of soil type on germination percentage of Leymus chinensis seeds (mean ± SE).

Fig. 5 Effects of NaCl and Na2CO3 stresses on germination of Leymus chinensis seeds (mean ± SE). Significant differences in corresponding germination indexes under different salt concentrations are denoted by different lowercases (p < 0.05).

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