To study the effects of halopriming and hydropriming in overcoming salt and drought stress in corn (Zea mays L.),two experiments were separately conducted at Shahrood University of Technology. Seed treatments consisted ofcontrol (untreated seeds), soaking in distilled water for 32 h (hydropriming), and soaking in 50 mmol solution ofCaCl2 for 16 h (halopriming). Germination and early seedling gr...

While the metabolic networks in developing seeds during the period of reserve accumulation have been extensively characterized, much less is known about those present during seed desiccation and subsequent germination. Here we utilized metabolite profiling, in conjunction with selective mRNA and physiological profiling to characterize Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seeds throughout developm...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Formation of seed banks and dormancy cycling are well known in annual species, but not in woody species. In this study it was hypothesized that the long-lived halophytic cold desert shrub Kalidium gracile has a seed bank and dormancy cycling, which help restrict germination to a favourable time for seedling survival. METHODS Fresh seeds were buried in November 2009 and exh...

BACKGROUND Invasions of natural communities by non-indigenous species are currently rated as one of the most important global-scale threats to biodiversity. Biodiversity itself is known to reduce invasions and increase stability. Disturbances by ecosystem engineers affect the distribution, establishment, and abundance of species but this has been ignored in studies on diversity-invasibility rel...

1. We used seed additions to test experimentally whether long-term community assembly unfolds consistently (deterministic model) or whether different outcomes are possible depending on variations in climate and the presence of exotic dominants (stochastic model). The experiment was conducted in homogeneous semi-arid grassland on the northern Great Plains of North America. Native grass seed addi...

Climate change induced alterations to rainfall patterns have the potential to affect the regeneration dynamics of plant species, especially in historically everwet tropical rainforest. Differential species response to infrequent rainfall may influence seed germination and seedling establishment in turn affecting species distributions. We tested the role of watering frequency intervals (from dai...

Genetic diversity is supposed to support the colonization success of expanding species, in particular in situations where microsite availability is constrained. Addressing the role of genetic diversity in plant invasion experimentally requires its manipulation independent of propagule pressure. To assess the relative importance of these components for the invasion of Senecio vernalis, we create...

Our understanding of processes underlying plant recruitment emerges from species and habitats that are widely distributed at regional and global scales. However, the applicability of dispersal-recruitment models and the role of dispersal limitation versus microsite limitation have not been examined for specialized habitats. In patchy, freshwater Myristica swamp forests (Western Ghats, India), w...