Abstract
Two Solanaceae invasive plant species (Physalis angulata L. and P. philadelphica Lam. var. immaculata Waterfall) infest several arable crops and natural habitats in Southeastern Anatolia region, Turkey. However, almost no information is available regarding germination biology of both species. We performed several experiments to infer the effects of environmental factors on seed germination and seedling emergence of different populations of both species collected from various locations with different elevations and habitat characteristics. Seed dormancy level of all populations was decreased with increasing age of the seeds. Seed dormancy of freshly harvested and aged seeds of all populations was effectively released by running tap water. Germination was slightly affected by photoperiods, which suggests that seeds are slightly photoblastic. All seeds germinated under wide range of temperature (15–40 °C), pH (4–10), osmotic potential (0 to −1.2 MPa) and salinity (0–400 mM sodium chloride) levels. The germination ability of both plant species under wide range of environmental conditions suggests further invasion potential towards non-infested areas in the country. Increasing seed burial depth significantly reduced the seedling emergence, and seeds buried below 4 cm of soil surface were unable to emerge. In arable lands, soil inversion to maximum depth of emergence (i.e., 6 cm) followed by conservational tillage could be utilized as a viable management option.
Highlights
P. angulata and P. philadelphica produce enormous amounts of seeds even under adverse environmental conditions[10], which are readily deposited to soil seed bank[12,13]
Seed traits are governed by many factors including genetic variation and environmental conditions prevailing during seed development[22,23]
The results indicate that P. philadelphica is able to withstand harsher environmental conditions compared with P. angulata
Summary
P. angulata and P. philadelphica produce enormous amounts of seeds even under adverse environmental conditions[10], which are readily deposited to soil seed bank[12,13]. Seed traits are governed by many factors including genetic variation and environmental conditions prevailing during seed development[22,23] These factors collectively determine the persistence (dormancy), germination and dispersal or mortality[23,24,25,26] of seeds produced by a plant species. Seeds present in the soil seed bank at various depths exhibit different germination response with respect to variation in moisture, temperature, light, EC and pH. Both Physalis species are widely distributed in arid and semi-arid regions of Turkey and started to incur losses in crop production[1,8], no information is available on their germination biology. Germination biology of these species could give valuable insights on their possible adaptations strategies for persisting in arid and semi-arid regions, could facilitate to assess their further spread potential and help in devising successful management strategies
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