Abstract
Germination strategy is an essential mechanism that determines plant survival in previously established populations or newly colonised sites. Carex is a group of species that has shown difficulties to germinate experimentally and also many of them failed in order to use in restoration projects. Our aim was to determine whether Carex elata and C. elongata that dominate in vegetation of Central European swamps differ in their germination strategy. We conducted germination experiments with stratified and unstratified seeds of both species to determine: 1) if they are able to germinate fresh, 2) if they exhibit a cyclic dormancy pattern, and 3) if they will germinate from a seed bank. We demonstrate fresh seed germination and no evidence of cyclic dormancy in either species. Stratification did not enhance final germination but it did accelerate germination. Seed bank seeds of both species germinate sparsely. We demonstrate that these coexisting Carex species differ with respect to final germination. The higher germination percentages of the fresh seeds compared to buried and seed bank seeds of both species probably reflect adaptation to fluctuating water-level conditions. In summary, these findings support a strategy of fresh germination in a highly-variable environment. Our study indicates that both C. elata and C. elongata are suitable for restoration projects. Successful establishment and revegetation with C. elongata may result simply from sowing fresh seeds. In contrast, seed sowing, combined with vegetatively produced seedling transplants is essential for the successful restoration of C. elata.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angevine M.W. & Chabot B.F. 1979. Seed germination syndromes in higher plants, pp. 188–206. In: Solbrig O.T., Jain S., Johnson G.B. & Raven P.H. (eds), Topics in Plant Population Biology, Columbia University Press, New York.
Baskin C.C. & Baskin J.M. 1988. Germination ecophysiology of herbaceous plant species in a temperate region. Am. J. Bot. 75: 286–305.
Baskin C.C. & Baskin J.M. 1993. Seed germination ecophysiology of four summer annual mudflat species of Cyperaceae. Aquat. Bot. 45: 41–52.
Baskin C.C. & Baskin J.M. 1998. Seeds. Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination. Academic Press, San Diego, 665 pp.
Baskin C.C., Chesson P.L. & Baskin J.M. 1993. Annual seed dormancy cycles in two desert winter annuals. J. Ecol. 81: 551–556.
Baskin C.C., Chester W.E. & Baskin J.M. 1996. Effect of flooding on annual dormancy cycles in buried seeds of two wetland Carex species. Wetlands 16: 84–88.
Brändel M. 2005. The effect of stratification temperatures on the level of dormancy in primary and secondary dormant seeds of two Carex species. Plant Ecol. 178: 163–169.
Budelsky R.A. & Galatowitsch S.M. 1999. Effects of moisture, temperature, and time on seed germination of five wetland Carices: implications for restoration. Restor. Ecol. 7: 86–97.
Cochrane A., Kelly A., Brown K. & Cunneen S. 2002. Relationships between seed germination requirements and ecophysiological characteristics aid the recovery of threatened native plant species in Western Australia. Ecol. Manage. Restor. 3: 47–60.
Core Team R. 2015. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, URL https://doi.org/www.R-project.org/..
Crawley M. J. 2012. The R book, 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Chichester, 1076 pp.
Czerepko J., Boczon A., Pierzgalski E., Sokolowski A.W. & Wróbel M. 2007. Habitat diversity and spontaneous succession of forest wetlands in Bialowieza primeval forest, pp. 37–43. In: Okruszko T., Maltby E., Szatylowicz J., Miroslaw-Swiatek D. & Kotowski W. (eds), Wetlands: Modeling, Monitoring and Management, Taylor and Francis, London.
Douda J., Boublík K., Slezák M., Biurrun I., Nociar J., Havrdová A., Doudová J., Aćić S., Brisse H., Brunet J., Chytrý M., Claessens H., Csiky J., Didukh Y., Dimopoulos P., Dullinger S., FitzPatrick Ú., Guisan A., Horchler P.J., Hrivnák R., Jandt U., Kącki Z., Kevey B., Landucci F., Lecomte H., Lenoir J., Paal J., Paternoster D., Pauli H., Pielech R., Rodwell J.S., Roelandt B., Svenning J.C., Šibík J., Šilc U., Škvorc Ž., Tsiripidis I., Tzonev R.T., Wohlgemuth T. & Zimmermann N.E. 2016a. Vegetation classification and biogeography of European floodplain forests and alder carrs. Appl. Veg. Sci. 19: 147–163.
Douda J., Čejková A., Douda K. & Kochánková J. 2009. Development of alder carr after the abandonment of wet grasslands during the last 70 years. Ann. For. Sci. 66: 1–13.
Douda J., Doudová-Kochánková J., Boublík K. & Drašnarová A. 2012. Plant species coexistence at local scale in temperate swamp forest: test of habitat heterogeneity hypothesis. Oe-cologia 169: 523–534.
Douda J., Hulík J. & Doudová J. 2016b. Vegetative sprouting as an additional pathway for a seed size-number trade-off: a field-parameterised simulation approach. Community Ecol. 17: 205–215.
Emrani S.N., Arzani A. & Saeidi G. 2013. Seed viability, germination and seedling growth of canola (Brassica napus L.) as influenced by chemical mutagens. Afr. J. Biotechnol. 10: 12602–12613.
Eriksson O. & Fröborg H. 1996. “Windows of opportunity” for recruitment in long-lived clonal plants: experimental studies of seedling establishment in Vaccinium shrubs. Can. J. Bot. 74: 1369–1374.
Fernández-Pascual E., Jiménez-Alfaro B. & Díaz T.E. 2013. The temperature dimension of the seed germination niche in fen wetlands. Plant ecol. 214: 489–499.
Fojt W. & Harding M. 1995. Thirty years of change in the vegetation communities of valley mires in Suffolk, England. J. Appl. Ecol. 32: 561–577.
Grime J.P., Mason G., Curtis A.V., Rodman J., Band S.R., Mowforth M.A.G., Neal A.M. & Shaw S. 1981. A comparative study of germination characteristics in a local flora. J. Ecol. 69: 1017–1059.
Gross N., Suding K.N., Lavorel S. & Roumet C. 2007. Complementarity as a mechanism of coexistence between functional groups of grasses. J. Ecol. 95: 1296–1305.
Hegi G. 1980. Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2, Teil 1, Cyperaceae, Typhaceae incl. Sparganiaceae, Araceae, Lemnaceae, Juncaceae, 3rd edition. Parey, Berlin.
Hothorn T., Bretz F. & Westfall P. 2013. Package “multcomp”. https://doi.org/cran.stat.sfu.ca/web/packages/multcomp/multcomp.pdf (accessed 18.8.2013).
Keddy P.A. 1992: Assembly and response rules: two goals for predictive community ecology. J. Veg. Sci. 3: 157–164.
Keddy P.A., Wisheu I.C., Shippley B. & Gaudet C. 1989. Seed banks and vegetation management for conservation: toward predictive community ecology, pp. 347–365. In: Leck M.A., Parker V.T. & Simpson R.L. (eds), Ecology of Soil Seed Banks. Academic Press, San Diego.
Kettenring K.M. & Galatowitsch S.M. 2007. Temperature requirements for dormancy break and seed germination vary greatly among 14 wetland Carex species. Aquat. Bot. 87: 209–220.
Kettenring K.M. & Galatowitsch S.M. 2011a. Seed rain of restored and natural prairie wetlands. Wetlands 31: 283–294.
Kettenring K.M. & Galatowitsch S.M. 2011b. Carex seedling emergence in restored and natural prairie wetlands. Wetlands 31: 273–281.
Leck M.A. & Schütz W. 2005. Regeneration of Cyperaceae, with particular reference to seed ecology and seed banks. Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 7: 95–133.
Mayfield M.M. & Levine J.M. 2010. Opposing effects of competitive exclusion on the phylogenetic structure of communities. Ecol. Lett. 13: 1085–1093.
McCullagh P. & Nelder J. A. 1989. Generalized Linear Models, 2nd edition. Chapman & Hall, London, 532 pp.
Narbona E., Delgado A., Encina F., Miguez M. & Buide M.L. 2013. Seed germination and seedling establishment of the rare Carex helodes Link depend on the proximity to water. Aquat. Bot. 110: 55–60.
Schütz W. 1997a. Are germination strategies important for the ability of cespitose wetland sedges (Carex) to grow in forests. Can. J. Bot. 75: 1692–1699.
Schütz W. 1997b. Primary dormancy and annual dormancy cycles in seeds of six temperate wetland sedges. Aquat. Bot. 59: 75–85.
Schütz W. 2000. Ecology of seed dormancy and germination in sedges (Carex). Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 3: 67–89.
Schütz W. & Rave G. 1999. The effect of cold stratification and light on the seed germination of temperate sedges (Carex) from various habitats and implications for regenerative strategies. Plant Ecol. 144: 215–230.
Schütz W. & Rave G. 2003. Variation in seed dormancy of the wetland sedge, Carex elongata, between populations and individuals in two consecutive years. Seed Sci. Res. 13: 315–322.
Silvertown J. 2004. Plant coexistence and the niche. Trends Ecol. Evol. 19: 605–611.
Thompson K., Bakker J.P. & Bekker R.M. 1997. The soil seed banks of North West Europe: methodology, density and longevity. Cambridge university press, Cambridge, 288 pp.
Tolasz R., Míková T. & Valeriánová A. 2007. Climate atlas of Czechia. ČHMÚ, Praha & UP, Olomouc.
Van der Valk A.G., Bremholm T.L. & Gordon E. 1999. The restoration of sedge meadows: seed viability, seed germination requirements, and seedling growth of Carex species. Wetlands 19: 756–764.
Van der Valk A.G. & Pederson R.L. 1989. Seed banks and the management and restoration of natural vegetation, pp. 329–346. In: Leck M.A., Parker V.T. & Simpson R.L. (eds), Ecology of Soil Seed Banks, Academic Press, San Diego.
Van Kleunen M., Fischer M. & Schmid B. 2002. Experimental life-history evolution: selection on the allocation to sexual reproduction and its plasticity in a clonal plant. Evolution 56: 2168–2177.
Venables W.N. & Ripley B.D. 1998. Modern Applied Statistics with S-Plus. Springer-Verlag, New York, 447 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hulík, J., Douda, J. Germination strategies of two dominant Carex species in a swamp alder forest: implications for restoration. Biologia 72, 370–377 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2017-0045
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2017-0045