Cargando…
Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds
Pollinators in general and monarch butterflies in particular are in decline due to habitat loss. Efforts to restore habitats for insects that rely on specific plant groups as larvae or adults depend on the ability of practitioners to grow and produce these plants. Monarch larvae feed exclusively on...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Oxford University Press
2018
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5861461/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29593856 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/ply018 |
_version_ | 1783308100234641408 |
---|---|
author | Kaye, Thomas N Sandlin, Isaac J Bahm, Matt A |
author_facet | Kaye, Thomas N Sandlin, Isaac J Bahm, Matt A |
author_sort | Kaye, Thomas N |
collection | PubMed |
description | Pollinators in general and monarch butterflies in particular are in decline due to habitat loss. Efforts to restore habitats for insects that rely on specific plant groups as larvae or adults depend on the ability of practitioners to grow and produce these plants. Monarch larvae feed exclusively on milkweed species, primarily in the genus Asclepias, making propagation and restoration of these plants crucial for habitat restoration. Seed germination protocols for milkweeds are not well established, in part due to the large number of milkweed species and conflicting reports of seed dormancy in the genus. We tested for seed dormancy and the optimum period of cold stratification in 15 populations of A. speciosa and 1–2 populations of five additional species, including A. asperula, A. fascicularis, A. subulata, A. subverticillata and A. syriaca. We exposed seeds to cold (5 °C) moist conditions for 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks and then moved them to 15 °C/25 °C alternating temperatures. In A. speciosa, dormancy was detected in eight populations, and this dormancy was broken by 2–4 weeks of cold stratification. The remaining seven populations showed no dormancy. Seed dormancy was also detected in two populations of A. fascicularis (broken by 4–6 weeks of cold stratification) and a single population of A. syriaca (broken by 2 weeks of cold stratification). No dormancy was detected in A. asperula, A. subulata or A. subverticillata. Seed dormancy appears to be widespread in the genus (confirmed in 15 species) but can vary between populations even within the same species. Variation in seed dormancy and cold stratification requirements within and among Asclepias species suggests local adaptation and maternal environments may drive seedling ecology, and that growers should watch for low germination and use cold stratification as needed to maximize seed germination and retain genetic variability in restored populations. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5861461 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-58614612018-03-28 Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds Kaye, Thomas N Sandlin, Isaac J Bahm, Matt A AoB Plants Research Article Pollinators in general and monarch butterflies in particular are in decline due to habitat loss. Efforts to restore habitats for insects that rely on specific plant groups as larvae or adults depend on the ability of practitioners to grow and produce these plants. Monarch larvae feed exclusively on milkweed species, primarily in the genus Asclepias, making propagation and restoration of these plants crucial for habitat restoration. Seed germination protocols for milkweeds are not well established, in part due to the large number of milkweed species and conflicting reports of seed dormancy in the genus. We tested for seed dormancy and the optimum period of cold stratification in 15 populations of A. speciosa and 1–2 populations of five additional species, including A. asperula, A. fascicularis, A. subulata, A. subverticillata and A. syriaca. We exposed seeds to cold (5 °C) moist conditions for 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks and then moved them to 15 °C/25 °C alternating temperatures. In A. speciosa, dormancy was detected in eight populations, and this dormancy was broken by 2–4 weeks of cold stratification. The remaining seven populations showed no dormancy. Seed dormancy was also detected in two populations of A. fascicularis (broken by 4–6 weeks of cold stratification) and a single population of A. syriaca (broken by 2 weeks of cold stratification). No dormancy was detected in A. asperula, A. subulata or A. subverticillata. Seed dormancy appears to be widespread in the genus (confirmed in 15 species) but can vary between populations even within the same species. Variation in seed dormancy and cold stratification requirements within and among Asclepias species suggests local adaptation and maternal environments may drive seedling ecology, and that growers should watch for low germination and use cold stratification as needed to maximize seed germination and retain genetic variability in restored populations. Oxford University Press 2018-03-02 /pmc/articles/PMC5861461/ /pubmed/29593856 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/ply018 Text en © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Kaye, Thomas N Sandlin, Isaac J Bahm, Matt A Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
title | Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
title_full | Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
title_fullStr | Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
title_full_unstemmed | Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
title_short | Seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
title_sort | seed dormancy and germination vary within and among species of milkweeds |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5861461/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29593856 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/ply018 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kayethomasn seeddormancyandgerminationvarywithinandamongspeciesofmilkweeds AT sandlinisaacj seeddormancyandgerminationvarywithinandamongspeciesofmilkweeds AT bahmmatta seeddormancyandgerminationvarywithinandamongspeciesofmilkweeds |