Effects of temperature and burial depth on seedling emergence and growth of the alpine cushion plant Arenaria oreophila

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2024.0456

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims As representative ecosystem engineers in alpine subnival ecosystems, cushion plants play a crucial role in maintaining the structure and diversity of plant communities in these regions. Therefore, the dynamic changes (e.g., population decline) in cushion plant populations way directly affect the long-term maintenance of ecosystem functions in alpine subnival zones. However, how the key stages in the dynamics of cushion plant populations—specifically seed emergence and seedling growth—respond to environmental factors is underexplored.

Methods This study investigated the effects of different temperatures and seed burial depths on seed emergence rates and seedling growth of the alpine cushion plant Arenaria oreophila, using seeds collected from multiple natural populations under controlled laboratory incubation.

Important findings The results indicate that higher temperatures (above 10 °C) accelerate seed germination and seedling emergence, thereby increasing over seedling emergence rates. However, seed burial depth limits seedling emergence rates; when burial depth exceeds 2 cm, seedling emergence rates significantly decrease, or seeds even fail to emerge, regardless of temperature conditions. Low temperatures (below 5 °C) severely inhibit seed emergence and seedling growth. Seedlings grown at higher temperatures exhibit significantly greater heights and biomass accumulation efficiency, with higher fresh and dry weights compared to those grown at lower temperatures. An optimal burial depth of 1 cm further supports biomass accumulation. However, excessively high temperatures pose a significant risk of seedling mortality. We suggest that excessively high temperatures (above 20 °C) and deep burial depths (greater than 2 cm) are detrimental to seedling emergence and growth of Arenaria oreophila. Optimal conditions for seedling emergence and growth are moderate temperatures (10-15 °C) and shallower burial depths (less than 1 cm). Altitude does not have a significant effect on seedling emergence and mortality, whereas it significantly influences seedling growth performance. Additionally, there may be population-level differences in environmental adaptability among seeds from different populations. This study further suggests that under global climate warming, the field populations of cushion A. oreophila may face numerous uncertain risks: the large, loose-grained soil substrate of subnival zones makes seeds susceptible to becoming buried too deeply, complicating subsequent seedling emergence, and while increased temperatures (due to climate warming) may promote seedling growth, they also substantially increase seedling mortality risk. Both of these two processes may inhibit the potential regeneration process of the populations of cushion A. oreophila.

Key words: cushion plant, Arenaria oreophila, seedling emergence, burial depth, environmental factor, climate change

HUANG Mei-Hong, NIU Meng-Qiu, YANG Peng-Fei, LIN Jie, LIAO Zhou-Yu, CHEN Jian-Guo, XIANG Jian-Ying. Effects of temperature and burial depth on seedling emergence and growth of the alpine cushion plant Arenaria oreophila[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2025, 49(12): 2092-2104.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2024.0456

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2025/V49/I12/2092

Figures/Tables 6

Table 1 Results of linear mixed-effect models of testing the effects of temperature, altitude and burial depth on seedling emergency (28th and 41st day, respectively) and performances of Arenaria oreophila

因子 Factor	时间 Time (d)	自由度 numDF	分母自由度 denDF	F	p
出苗率 Seedling emergency
截距 Intercept	28	1	85	1264.85	<0.001
截距 Intercept	41	1	90	1434.59	<0.001
温度 Temperature	28	2	85	109.54	<0.001
温度 Temperature	41	2	90	11.24	<0.001
海拔 Altitude	28	1	85	0.99	0.32
海拔 Altitude	41	1	90	2.29	0.13
埋深 Burried depth	28	2	85	209.95	<0.001
埋深 Burried depth	41	2	90	217.55	<0.001
温度×海拔 Temperature × Altitude	28	2	85	1.34	0.27
温度×海拔 Temperature × Altitude	41	2	90	8.92	<0.001
温度×埋深 Temperature × Burried depth	28	4	85	13.35	<0.001
温度×埋深 Temperature × Burried depth	41	4	90	0.93	0.45
海拔×埋深 Altitude × Burried depth	28	2	85	0.27	0.77
海拔×埋深 Altitude × Burried depth	41	2	90	6.07	<0.01
温度×海拔×埋深 Temperature × Altitude × Burried depth	28	4	85	1.56	0.19
温度×海拔×埋深 Temperature × Altitude × Burried depth	41	4	90	6.25	<0.001
幼苗株高 Seedling height
截距 Intercept		1	74	4 864.89	<0.001
温度 Temperature		2	74	91.98	<0.001
海拔 Altitude		1	74	26.04	<0.001
埋深 Burried depth		2	74	14.16	<0.001
幼苗鲜质量 Seedling fresh mass
截距 Intercept		1	74	4 864.89	<0.001
温度 Temperature		2	74	91.98	<0.001
海拔 Altitude		1	74	26.04	<0.001
埋深 Burried depth		2	74	14.16	<0.001
幼苗干质量 Seedling dry mass
截距 Intercept		1	74	4 864.89	<0.001
温度 Temperature		2	74	91.98	<0.001
海拔 Altitude		1	74	26.04	<0.001
埋深 Burried depth		2	74	14.16	<0.001
幼苗死亡率 Seedling mortality
截距 Intercept		1	78	140.66	<0.001
温度 Temperature		2	78	13.61	<0.001
海拔 Altitude		1	78	0.73	0.39
埋深 Burried depth		2	78	2.39	0.10

Fig. 1 Seedling emergence of Arenaria oreophila seeds from high (A) and low (B) altitude populations, respectively, along with culture time and with different temperature and burial depth.

Fig. 2 Seedling emergence (mean ± SE) of Arenaria oreophila seeds from different altitude populations cultivated at different temperatures and burial depths (∎, 0 cm ; ▲, 1 cm; ●, 2 cm) before initiation of warming treatment. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference between groups at different burial depths under the same temperature condition (p < 0.05).

Fig. 3 Final seedling emergence (A, B) and seedling mortality (C, D) of seeds from different altitude populations cultivated at different temperatures and burial depths (∎, 0 cm ; ▲, 1 cm; ●, 2 cm) (mean ± SE). Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference between groups at different burial depths under the same temperature condition (p < 0.05).

Fig. 4 Final height of Arenaria oreophila seedlings (mean ± SE) from seeds of different populations cultured at different temperatures and burial depths (∎, 0 cm ; ▲, 1 cm; ●, 2 cm) at the end of the experiment. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference between groups at different burial depths under the same temperature condition (p < 0.05).

Fig. 5 Fresh (A, B) and dry (C, D) mass (mean ± SE) of Arenaria oreophila seedlings from seeds of different populations cultured at different temperatures and burial depths (∎, 0 cm ; ▲, 1 cm; ●, 2 cm) at the end of the experiment. Different lowercase letters indicate significant difference between groups at different burial depths under the same temperature condition (p < 0.05).

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