Germination response to water availability in populations of Festuca pallescens along a Patagonian rainfall gradient based on hydrotime model parameters.

ABSTRACT: Sensitivity to water availability is a key physiological trait for grassland species located in arid and semiarid environments, where successful germination is closely related to rainfall dynamics. Festuca pallescens inhabits diverse environments along a steep precipitation gradient in North Patagonia, thus offering a suitable model for the study of germination behavior in response to water availability. By analyzing germination in nine populations using a hydrotime model approach, we aimed to find within-species variation. Seed population behavior was analyzed under different hydric conditions using hydrotime model parameters (hydrotime, mean base water potential and its standard deviation). We estimated the mean base water potential for F. pallescens (ψb₍₅₀₎ = - 2.79 ± 0.45 MP

SUBMITTER: Lopez AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8137931 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature