Maternal control of seed size in the common bean provides an opportunity to study genotype-independent seed weight effects on early seedling growth and development. We set out to test the hypothesis that the early heterotrophic growth of bean seedlings is determined by both the relative amount of cotyledon storage reserves and the genotype of the seedling, provided the hybrid genotype could be ...

Reduced recruitment of blue oak (Quercus douglasii) seedlings in California grasslands and woodlands may result from shifts in seasonal soil water availability coincident with replacement of the native perennial herbaceous community by Mediterranean annuals. We used a combination of container and field experiments to examine the interrelationships between soil water potential, herbaceous neighb...

Cinnamic acid (CA), which is a well-known major autotoxin secreted by the roots in cucumber continuous cropping, has been proven to exhibit inhibitory regulation of plant morphogenesis and development. Melatonin (MT) has been recently demonstrated to play important roles in alleviating plant abiotic stresses. To investigate whether MT supplementation could improve cucumber seedling growth under...

The effect of litter on seedling establishment can influence species richness in plant communities. The effect of litter depends on amount, and also on litter type, but relatively little is known about the species-specific effects of litter. We conducted a factorial greenhouse experiment to examine the effect of litter type, using two woody species that commonly co-occur in boreonemoral forest-...

Seed production, seed dispersal and recruitment are critical processes in population dynamics, because they are almost never completely successful. We recorded the recruitment dynamics for the population of Dipteryx oleifera in a tropical rainforest in eastern Nicaragua (12 degrees 05' N., 83 degrees 55' W.) from March 2002 to August 2006. Seeds and seedlings had highly clumped distributions, w...

Wild Cardon cactus seeds were inoculated with Azospirillum brasilense strains Cd and Sp-245 to improve seed germination and seedling growth parameters. Differential germination responses were related to the bacterial strain. A. brasilense Cd (the type strain for the species A. brasilense) significantly decreased seed germination. A. brasilense Sp245 (a known beneficial bacteria for cereal plant...

This study was conducted at the Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources farm, Iran, Golestan province with about 600 mm annual rainfall in order to evaluate the effect of different sowing dates on Azivash (Corchorusolitorius) seed quality, using a randomized complete block design with three replications on 2013. Treatments were four sowing dates such as May 5, ...

Woody plant expansion into grasslands and savannas is a global concern. Rapid expansion of Juniperus virginiana, a tree native to North America, has profound ecological consequences. We used transplanted J. virginiana seedlings to investigate the role of resource availability on J. virginiana expansion following the removal of fire, the factor historically limiting range expansion of this firei...

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...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The optimal period for seedling emergence depends on factors such as habitat preference, life cycle and geographical distribution. This research was performed to clarify the role of temperature in regulating processes leading to seedling emergence of the European continental Scilla bifolia and the Atlantic Narcissus pseudonarcissus and Hyacinthoides non-scripta. METHODS Ex...