Seed banks are critically important for disturbance specialist plants because seeds of these species germinate only in disturbed soil. Disturbance and seed depth affect the survival and germination probability of seeds in the seed bank, which in turn affect population dynamics. We develop a density-dependent stochastic integral projection model to evaluate the effect of stochastic soil disturba...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Differences in dormancy and germination requirements have been documented in heteromorphic seeds of many species, but it is unknown how this difference contributes to maintenance and regeneration of populations. The primary aim of this study was to compare the seed bank dynamics, including dormancy cycling, of the two seed morphs (black and brown) of the cold desert halophyt...

haloxylon aphyllum is one of the most important species in sandy and saline areas in deserts, and some ecophysiology characters for viability in unfavorable condition have evaluated in this species. seed germination is the critical stages in life cycle for species survival. in this study investigated salinity and temperature stresses on percentage and velocity of germination using six salinity ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Lomatium dissectum (Apiaceae) is a perennial, herbaceous plant of wide distribution in Western North America. At the time of dispersal, L. dissectum seeds are dormant and have under-developed embryos. The aims of this work were to determine the requirements for dormancy break and germination, to characterize the type of seed dormancy, and to determine the effect of dehydrati...

Several nematicides have been used to disinfest rice seeds contaminated with the white tip nematode, Aphelenchoides besseyi. We measured the efficacy of a standard disinfestation treatment that consists of soaking seeds in an aqueous emulsion of fenitrothion or fenthion and subsequently air-drying the seeds. We also measured the efficacy of the same treatments but without addition of nematicide...

Tapirs are known as effective dispersers of large-seeded tree species, but their role in dispersing small-seeded plant species has yet to be established. Tapir feces have been reported to contain large numbers of small seeds, but whether these are viable has rarely been evaluated. We determined the abundance and viability of small seeds in feces of Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii) on Ba...

Both red light (10 minutes) and 35 degrees C treatment (60 minutes) stimulate the germination of seeds of Rumex obtusifolius otherwise maintained in darkness at 25 degrees C. Fluence response curves were determined for the effect of red light to stimulate germination of seeds with and without 35 degrees C treatment. The endogenous far-red absorbing form (Pfr) level in the seeds was determined u...