Will competitiveness of resulting plants of persistent soil seed bank decline? Example from Eupatorium adenophorum

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00754

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims It has been assumed that plants grown from persistent soil seed bank (PSSB) are not less competitive because of soil storage. Our objective was to determine whether the competitiveness of plants of PSSB will decrease.
Methods We compared heights and biomass of Eupatorium adenophorum plants grown from fresh seeds and grown from one-year-old buried PSSB seeds with no competition (control) and competition with density of 0.25, 1, 4 and 8 plants·cm^-2. We also compared plants grown from fresh seeds and three-year-old buried PSSB seeds with no competition (control) and competition with density of 0.10, 0.17, 0.60 and 2.17 plants·cm^-2. The PSSB seeds and fresh seeds were germinated simultaneously, and seedlings were grown in garden pots up to 175 days. Plant height was measured every 15 days and biomass was measured every 30 days (3 replicates).
Important findings The height and biomass of plants of one- and three-year-old buried PSSB seeds were lower than for plants germinated from fresh seeds in the control (no competition) and with competition at most measuring times. However, most differences were not statistically significant.

Key words: biomass, density-dependence, persistence, seed storage, vigor reduction

SHEN You-Xin, ZHAO Chun-Yan. Will competitiveness of resulting plants of persistent soil seed bank decline? Example from Eupatorium adenophorum[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2012, 36(8): 754-762.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00754

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2012/V36/I8/754

Figures/Tables 9

Fig. 1 Diagram showing the competition arrangement between plants resulting from one year buried persistent soil seed bank (PSSB) and fresh seeds.

Table 1 Effects of density (D) and seed source type (A) (new seeds vs one year old seeds of persistent soil seed bank) on plant height of Eupatorium adenophorum at different days after sowing

处理 Treatment		距离播种天数 Days after sowing (d)
处理 Treatment		45	55	65	75	85	105	125	140	155	165
D A A × D	df F p df F p df F p	4 140.466 0.000 1 44.336 0.000 4 125.375 0.000	4 70.423 0.000 1 15.829 0.000 4 0.313 0.868	4 8.379 0.000 1 4.102 0.045 4 11.765 0.000	4 30.907 0.000 1 2.894 0.092 4 2.853 0.027	4 28.287 0.000 1 0.415 0.521 4 1.531 0.201	4 18.245 0.000 1 0.045 0.833 4 6.472 0.000	4 6.036 0.001 1 2.107 0.153 4 3.410 0.016	4 101.397 0.000 1 4.262 0.044 4 0.419 0.794	4 1.632 0.210 1 0.318 0.580 4 0.920 0.474	4 2.101 0.131 1 2.622 0.126 4 4.326 0.016

Table 2 Effects of density (D) and seed source type (A) (new seeds vs three years old seeds of persistent soil seed bank) on plant height of Eupatorium adenophorum at different days after sowing

处理 Treatment		距离播种天数 Days after sowing (d)
处理 Treatment		32	57	71	86	101	116	130	145	160	175
D A A × D	df F p df F p df F p	4 4.580 0.002 1 0.667 0.415 4 0.901 0.465	4 7.695 0.000 1 3.367 0.069 4 0.969 0.427	4 32.120 0.000 1 4.305 0.040 4 0.327 0.859	4 77.719 0.000 1 4.567 0.035 4 0.357 0.839	4 45.207 0.000 1 3.539 0.064 4 0.290 0.884	4 45.046 0.000 1 4.524 0.037 4 0.468 0.759	4 36.001 0.000 1 3.749 0.059 4 0.324 0.861	4 37.387 0.000 1 3.803 0.058 4 0.369 0.830	4 24.170 0.000 1 0.377 0.547 4 0.512 0.728	4 26.046 0.000 1 0.106 0.748 4 0.317 0.863

Fig. 2 Comparisons of plant height of plants resulting from one year old seeds of persistent soil seed bank (PSSB) and resulting from fresh seeds at different planting densities (mean ± SE). A, Control. B, 0.25 plants·cm-2. C, 1 plant·cm-2. D, 4 plants·cm-2. E, 8 plants·cm-2.

Fig. 3 Comparisons of plant height of plants resulting from three years old seeds of persistent soil seed bank (PSSB) and resulting from fresh seeds at different planting densities (mean ± SE). A, Control. B, 0.10 plants·cm-2. C, 0.17 plants·cm-2. D, 0.60 plants·cm-2. E, 2.17 plants·cm-2.

Table 3 Effects of density (D) and seed source type (A) (new seeds vs one year old seeds of persistent soil seed bank) on biomass of Eupatorium adenophorum at different days after sowing

处理 Treatment		距离播种天数 Days after sowing (d)
处理 Treatment		85	115	145	175
D A A × D	df F p df F p df F p	4 2.047 0.126 1 0.383 0.543 4 0.025 0.999	4 3.386 0.029 1 25.317 0.000 4 0.937 0.463	3 15.829 0.000 1 5.046 0.036 3 3.586 0.023	4 12.077 0.000 1 0.338 0.567 4 0.343 0.846

Table 4 Effects of density (D) and seed source type (A) (new seeds vs three years old seeds of persistent soil seed bank) on biomass of Eupatorium adenophorum at different days after sowing

处理 Treatment		距离播种天数 Days after sowing (d)
处理 Treatment		58	86	117	145	175
D A A × D	df F p df F p df F p	4 12.552 0.000 1 3.232 0.088 4 0.366 0.829	4 36.873 0.000 1 0.022 0.883 4 0.562 0.693	3 47.930 0.000 1 0.029 0.868 3 0.025 0.995	4 376.202 0.000 1 5.897 0.027 4 0.546 0.658	4 62.320 0.000 1 0.201 0.659 4 0.117 0.975

Fig. 4 Comparisons of individual biomass of plants resulting from one year old seeds of persistent soil seed bank (PSSB) and resulting from fresh seeds at different planting densities (mean ± SE). A, Control. B, 0.25 plants·cm-2. C, 1 plant·cm-2. D, 4 plants·cm-2. E, 8 plants·cm-2.

Fig. 5 Comparisons of individual biomass of plants resulting from three years old seeds of persistent soil seed bank (PSSB) and resulting from fresh seeds at different planting densities (mean ± SE). A, Control. B, 0.10 plants·cm-2. C, 0.17 plants·cm-2. D, 0.60 plants·cm-2. E, 2.17 plants·cm-2.

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