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- Title
Effect of age on the germination of Cassinia arcuata seeds in storage and buried in soil.
- Authors
Campbell, M. H.; Nicol, H. I.
- Abstract
Seeds at Cassinia arcuata R. Br. (sifton bush), collected annually from near Orange (1987–92) and Boorowa (1987–89), New South Wales, Australia, were stored in a laboratory al a mean temperature of 21 °C and a mean relative humidity of 25% and germinated each year for up to 8 years. Seeds from the 1990 and 1992 Orange collections were buried 5 mm and 40 mm deep in the soil for 0.5–2.7 years and the number and germinability of recovered seeds recorded. Germination capacity of seeds stored in the laboratory increased during the first 2 years of storage and then declined slightly in year 3 and markedly in years 4 and 5 to very low levels in year 6 and subsequent years. The seeds collected near Orange had nil germination after 6 years' storage, whereas Boorowa seeds still had 0.2% and 3.5% germination after 7 and 8 years' storage respectively. Seeds that failed to germinate were shown to be non-viable by the tetrazolium test. There was no decline in germination rate during the first 3 years of storage, but, thereafter, there was a substantial annual decline, which would reduce the rate of establishment of seedlings in the field and render them susceptible to competition from improved pastures. The longer and deeper the burial of seeds in the soil and the older the seeds, the fewer seeds that germinated when recovered; meaned for both depths of burial 23% of 0.9-year-old seeds that had been buried for 0.5 years and 3.4% of 5.1-year old seeds that had been buried for 2.7 years were recovered in a germinable state. The main causes of loss during burial were germination in the soil and destruction by soil organisms.
- Subjects
GERMINATION; SEED viability; FORAGE plant seeds; FORAGE plants; PLANT longevity; SEED storage; SOILS
- Publication
Weed Research, 1997, Vol 37, Issue 2, p103
- ISSN
0043-1737
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1046/j.1365-3180.1996.d01-4.x