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Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal

In recent years, spread of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) has been a major concern in Nepal. One such IAPS is Ageratum houstonianum, an Asteraceae, that is a prolific seed producer and difficult-to-control in farmland and various ecological regions causing crop yield and biodiversity losses. Ho...

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Autores principales: Lamsal, Anju, Devkota, Mohan P., Shrestha, Deepa S., Joshi, Srijana, Shrestha, Anil
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6874205/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31751412
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225430
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author Lamsal, Anju
Devkota, Mohan P.
Shrestha, Deepa S.
Joshi, Srijana
Shrestha, Anil
author_facet Lamsal, Anju
Devkota, Mohan P.
Shrestha, Deepa S.
Joshi, Srijana
Shrestha, Anil
author_sort Lamsal, Anju
collection PubMed
description In recent years, spread of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) has been a major concern in Nepal. One such IAPS is Ageratum houstonianum, an Asteraceae, that is a prolific seed producer and difficult-to-control in farmland and various ecological regions causing crop yield and biodiversity losses. However, very little information is available on the germination biology and ecology of this species. Therefore, experiments were conducted to assess the effect of water stress, pH level, and light requirement on seed germination, and the effect of seed burial depth on seedling emergence. Water stress was simulated by polyethylene glycol solutions ranging from 0–5.56 MPa and pH solutions ranging from 4 to 9 were prepared using hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Germination tests were conducted in petri dishes lined with filter paper and placed in a controlled environment chamber set at 20° C. Light requirement comparisons were made by having petri dishes wrapped with aluminum foil or left unwrapped. Seedling emergence was evaluated by placing seeds at depths ranging from 0 to 20 mm in the soil. Results indicated that this species was moderately drought-tolerant because germination ceased beyond 0.51 MPa. Greater germination occurred at neutral to acidic than at alkaline pH levels. The seeds were positively photoblastic because no germination occurred under dark condition. No seedlings emerged from seeds placed more than 2 mm deep in the soil, indicating that this is a primarily surface germinating species. These findings will help predict future invasions and in development of management strategies for this IAPS.
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spelling pubmed-68742052019-12-07 Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal Lamsal, Anju Devkota, Mohan P. Shrestha, Deepa S. Joshi, Srijana Shrestha, Anil PLoS One Research Article In recent years, spread of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) has been a major concern in Nepal. One such IAPS is Ageratum houstonianum, an Asteraceae, that is a prolific seed producer and difficult-to-control in farmland and various ecological regions causing crop yield and biodiversity losses. However, very little information is available on the germination biology and ecology of this species. Therefore, experiments were conducted to assess the effect of water stress, pH level, and light requirement on seed germination, and the effect of seed burial depth on seedling emergence. Water stress was simulated by polyethylene glycol solutions ranging from 0–5.56 MPa and pH solutions ranging from 4 to 9 were prepared using hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Germination tests were conducted in petri dishes lined with filter paper and placed in a controlled environment chamber set at 20° C. Light requirement comparisons were made by having petri dishes wrapped with aluminum foil or left unwrapped. Seedling emergence was evaluated by placing seeds at depths ranging from 0 to 20 mm in the soil. Results indicated that this species was moderately drought-tolerant because germination ceased beyond 0.51 MPa. Greater germination occurred at neutral to acidic than at alkaline pH levels. The seeds were positively photoblastic because no germination occurred under dark condition. No seedlings emerged from seeds placed more than 2 mm deep in the soil, indicating that this is a primarily surface germinating species. These findings will help predict future invasions and in development of management strategies for this IAPS. Public Library of Science 2019-11-21 /pmc/articles/PMC6874205/ /pubmed/31751412 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225430 Text en © 2019 Lamsal et al 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 use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Lamsal, Anju
Devkota, Mohan P.
Shrestha, Deepa S.
Joshi, Srijana
Shrestha, Anil
Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal
title Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal
title_full Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal
title_fullStr Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal
title_short Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal
title_sort seed germination ecology of ageratum houstonianum: a major invasive weed in nepal
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6874205/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31751412
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225430
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