Variable seed bed microsite conditions and light influence germination in Australian winter annuals.

ABSTRACT: Environmentally cued germination may play an important role in promoting coexistence in Mediterranean annual plant systems if it causes niche differentiation across heterogeneous microsite conditions. In this study, we tested how microsite conditions experienced by seeds in the field and light conditions in the laboratory influenced germination in 12 common annual plant species occurring in the understorey of the York gum-jam woodlands in southwest Western Australia. Specifically, we hypothesized that if germination promotes spatial niche differentiation, then we should observe species-specific germination responses to light. In addition, we hypothesized that species' laboratory germination response may depend on the microsite conditions experienced by seeds while buried. We tested the lab

SUBMITTER: Towers IR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9056468 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature