Weedy Setaria Seed Life History

The nature of weeds is a complex adaptive, soil-seed communication system. The nature of weedy Setaria life history is an adaptable, changeable system in which complex behaviors emerge when self-similar plant components self-organize into functional traits possessing biological information about spatial structure and temporal behavior. The nature of the weedy Setaria is revealed in the physical (morphological and genetic spatial structures) and the phenomenal (life history behavior instigated by functional traits). Structural self-similarity in morphology is revealed in seed envelope compartmentalization and individual plant tillering; in genetics by local populations and Setaria species-associations forming the global metapopulation. Behavioral self-organization is revealed in the self-pollenating mating system controlling genetic novelty, seed heteroblasty blueprinting seedling recruitment, and phenotypic plasticity and somatic polymorphism optimizing seed fecundity. The weedy Setaria phenotype can be described in terms of the spatial structure of its seed and plant morphology, and by its genotypes and population genetic structure. This spatial structure extends from the cells and tissues of the embryo axes, the surrounding seed envelopes, the individual seed and then plant, the local deme, and ending with the aggregation of local populations forming the global metapopulation. Setaria plant spatial structure is the foundation for emergent life history behavior: self-similar timing of life history processes regulated by functional traits expressed via environment-plant communication. Temporal life history behavior begins in anthesis, fertilization and embryogenesis; development continues with inflorescence tillering, seed dispersal in space and time, and resumption of embryo growth with seedling emergence. Setaria life history behavior is a Markov chain of irreversible (dormancy induction; seed dispersal, 2 germination, seedling emergence, neighbor interactions) and reversible (seed after-ripening, dormancy re-induction) processes of seed-plant state changes (flowering plants, dormant seed, seed germination candidate, germinated seed, seedling) regulated by morpho-physiological traits acting through environment-plant communication systems (environment-plant-seed, soil-seed). Heritable functional traits are the physical reservoirs of information guiding life history development, emergent behavior. Information contained in structural and behavioral traits is communicated directly between soil environment and seed during development. Functional traits controlling seed-seedling behavior are physical information that has evolved in ongoing communication between organism and environment leading to local adaption. The consequence of structural self-similarity and behavioral self-organization has been the evolution of a complex adaptive seed-soil communication system. Weedy Setaria life history is represented in algorithmic form as FoxPatch, a model to forecast seed behavior. The environment-biological informational system with which weedy Setaria life history unfolds is represented in the …