The soil seed bank is the basis for community establishment and permanence and plays a primary role in natural restoration of degraded or altered ecosystems. As part of a restoration project, this study aimed to quantify the soil seed bank and to evaluate the effect of the needle litter layer on seedling emergence. Soil samples from a pine plantation were collected at random in the field and se...

abstract nowruzak (salvia leriifolia) of lamiaceae family has a good capability for domestication in khorasan’s natural habitats. in order to investigate the effect of sowing design and depth in seedling emergence and permanence, a split plot experiment based on a randomized complete block design was performed with three replications. results indicated sowing design in all three parameters, sow...

the effect of electromagnetic field was examined on zinnia (zinnia elegans) seeds to enhance seed germination and early growth. the seeds were exposed to four magnetic strengths of 15, 100, 400 and 800 mt in four durations of 30, 60, 120 and 240 min. the experiments were carried out in two forms of laboratory germination and soil emergence. results showed that magnetic field application enhance...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Germination and seedling establishment, which are critical stages in the regeneration process of plant populations, may be subjected to natural selection and adaptive evolution. The aims of this work were to assess the main limitations on offspring performance of Silene ciliata, a high mountain Mediterranean plant, and to test whether local adaptation at small spatial scales...

The magnitude of inbreeding depression within populations is important for the evolution and maintenance of mixed mating systems. However, data are sparse on the magnitude of inbreeding depression in Robinia pseudoacacia. In this study, we compared differences in the mature seed set per fruit, seed mass, germination success, and seedling growth between self- and cross-pollination treatments and...

The genus AnthemisL. (Asteraceae) as medicinal plants are used both for pharmaceutical purposes and in folk medicine. In order to study of seed priming effects on seedling growth of two species of Anthemis spp., an factorial experiment based on randomized complete design with three replications was conducted under greenhouse conditions in Research Institute of Forests...

The performance of every plant in an environment is an indicator of how the plant can withstand the various environmental conditions. This study investigated the toxicity of crude oil on the growth performance, chlorophyll contents, enzymatic activities and oxidative stress biomarkers of eight accessions of Zea mays. The growth enzyme (amylase and invertase) activities, as well as oxidative s...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Seed survival in the soil contributes to population persistence and community diversity, creating a need for reliable measures of soil seed bank persistence. Several methods estimate soil seed bank persistence, most of which count seedlings emerging from soil samples. Seasonality, depth distribution and presence (or absence) in vegetation are then used to classify a species'...