BACKGROUND Ecological succession drives large-scale changes in ecosystem composition over time, but the mechanisms whereby climatic change might alter succession remain unresolved. Here, we asked if the effects of atmospheric and climatic change would alter tree seedling emergence and establishment in an old-field ecosystem, recognizing that small shifts in rates of seedling emergence and estab...

Tree species can differ in their responses to resource availability during the critical phase of establishment, which could influence forest dynamics. In Mediterranean forests, most of the attention has focused on the effects of shade and summer drought on seedling survival, but little is known about the effect of autumn to spring rains on earlier stages of recruitment. A sowing experiment was ...

Calligonum mongolicum is a successful pioneer shrub to combat desertification, which is widely used for vegetation restoration in the desert regions of northwest China. In order to reveal the limitations to natural regeneration of C. mongolicum by asexual and sexual reproduction, following the process of sand dune stabilization, we assessed clonal shoots, seedling emergence, soil seed bank dens...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The date of emergence may have far-reaching implications for seedling performance. Seedlings emerging early in the growing season often have a greater rate of survival or grow better if early emergence provides advantages with respect to an environmental cue. As a result, the benefits of early emergence may be lost if the environmental stress creating the differences among c...

A doubled haploid (DH) population of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) generated from salinity tolerant genotype CM72 and salinity sensitive variety Gairdner was studied for salinity stress tolerance at germination, seedling emergence and first leaf full expansion growth stages. Germination study was conducted with deionized water, 150 mM and 300 mM NaCl treatments. Seedling stage salinity tolerance ...

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on seedling emergence, morphological characteristics, and photosynthetic pigments of Chenopodium album (L.) in lead (Pb) contaminated soil. The Pb contaminated soils were taken from Hirmand River. The soil samples mixed with 0.71 g Li-1 Pb (PbNO3)2 to increase the Pb concentration. EDTA was added to the...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The response of forest herb regeneration from seed to temperature variations across latitudes was experimentally assessed in order to forecast the likely response of understorey community dynamics to climate warming. METHODS Seeds of two characteristic forest plants (Anemone nemorosa and Milium effusum) were collected in natural populations along a latitudinal gradient fro...

Promoting the seed regeneration potential of secondary forests undergoing gap disturbances is an important approach for achieving forest restoration and sustainable management. Seedling recruitment from seed banks strongly determines the seed regeneration potential, but the process is poorly understood in the gaps of secondary forests. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the ef...

The influence of pre-sowing treatments using hydropriming, osmopriming and halopriming in laboratory and/or nursery tests on seedling emergence, seedling weight and plant growth of endive and chicory was examined. Halopriming (KNO3) or growth regulators (gibberelic acid; GA3) improved the rate of germination of endive and chicory and reduced the mean germination time needed. 30 min pre-sowing t...