Many studies have focused on the ecology of seed dimorphism, the production of two seed types by a single plant. Morphology and seed size are usually correlated, but how morphology affects germination percentage and seedling growth is poorly understood. Here we explicitly separate these effects for nine populations of the dimorphic species Tragopogon pratensis subsp. pratensis. Larger seeds yie...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Seed survival in the soil contributes to population persistence and community diversity, creating a need for reliable measures of soil seed bank persistence. Several methods estimate soil seed bank persistence, most of which count seedlings emerging from soil samples. Seasonality, depth distribution and presence (or absence) in vegetation are then used to classify a species'...

The sustainability of seed extraction from natural populations has been questioned recently. Increased recruitment failure under intense seed harvesting suggests that seed extraction intensifies source limitation. Nevertheless, areas where more seeds are collected tend to also have more intense hunting of seed-dispersing animals. We studied whether such hunting, by limiting disperser activity, ...

the purpose of this study was the introduction of seed accumulation index as a new approach in the evaluation of soil seed bank consistency in the populus caspica in noor reserved forest park. sampling were made above ground vegetation at peak vegetation cover during june 2010 by systematic- selective method. soil samples were collected during late june, late november and early february by hamm...

smirnovia iranica (sabeti) synonym: smirnovia turkestana (bunge) is a deciduous perennial bushy species of the fabaceae (papilionaceae) family. the species grow on sand dunes of desert areas, having a deep vertical root and very long horizontal or lateral roots. they have an important role in natural vegetation of desert and sand dune stabilization. limited growing areas, grazing due to good pa...

Seed purity, more appropriately seed product integrity, is maintained within a framework of regulatory (labeling) requirements through the Federal Seed Act, quality standards, seed testing performed by accredited entities, quality management practices, and production under principles and practices of coexistence. Cooperation among seed developers, seed producers, and growers at the local field ...

Ten yearling steers weighing 270-360 kg died acutely after eating early seed pod stage Lupinus argenteus (silvery lupine) containing high levels of piperidine alkaloids, including ammodendrine and N-methylammodendrine. Reduced availability of Quality feed from range moderately depleted of Quality grasses appeared a major factor in causing the cattle to graze lupine. Proximate analysis of whole ...

Seed development of flowering plant is a complicated process controlled by a signal network. Double fertilization generates 2 zygotic products (embryo and endosperm). Embryo gives rise to a daughter plant while endosperm provides nutrients for embryo during embryogenesis and germination. Seed coat differentiates from maternally derived integument and encloses embryo and endosperm. Seed size/mas...

Seed yield of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is important in determining the effective distribution of new cultivars to farmers. Many genetic and environmental factors affect seed yield. This study was conducted to explain seed yield variation induced by either environmental conditions or cultivars. We analyzed seed yield, aboveground phytomass, harvest index, and seed yield components for a set ...

Seed performance after dispersal is highly dependent on parental environmental cues, especially during seed formation and maturation. Here we examine which environmental factors are the most dominant in this respect and whether their effects are dependent on the genotypes under investigation. We studied the influence of light intensity, photoperiod, temperature, nitrate, and phosphate during se...