Seed Germination of selected Taxa from Kachchh Desert, India

Vinay Madhukar Raole,Sandhya Kiran Garge,Rinku Jitendrakumar Desai,Aruna Girish Joshi

doi:10.15835/nsb223692

Vinay Madhukar Raole, Sandhya Kiran Garge + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb223692

Copy DOI

Abstract

The district of Kachchh contains many culturally important plants. However, their conservation status is little known due to direct and indirect human activities. This study was undertaken with the aim of contributing to the conservation of the native species of these semi-arid regions through germination trials under laboratory conditions. Mature fruits of ten selected species were collected randomly from the known habitats to obtain viable seeds. These seeds were pre-treated with growth regulators singly or in combination after acid scarification or without scarification. Seeds were found to be dormant due to presence of thick seed coat or due to low level of endogenous hormonal level. Most of these seeds required different storage period to mature. Only seeds of Capparis cartilaginea germinated without treatment while the other species required treatments. Addition of growth regulators has enhanced seed germination in few taxa singly and in some plant cases in combination.

Highlights

In spite of the great importance of the Kachchh flora to the vegetation of semiarid regions of India, there are surprisingly few studies that address key processes to plant conservation, as germination characteristics, reproductive biology and autecology
Numerous observations on seed germination of desert or semiarid plant taxa emphasized the differences in the germination response to physiological and environmental conditions (Gutterman, 1992; Khan and Ungar, 1997)
Kachchh district is quite interesting as it belongs to arid-semiarid zone due to its peculiar geographical position, extreme climatic conditions and presence of xerophytic plant life forms

Summary

Introduction

At one end of the spectrum, seeds of many desert plants remain dormant while on the other hand some of them remain buried in the soil, for many years after dispersal, until rainfall is high enough to trigger germination (Venable and Lawlor, 1980). Between both extremes, in strongly seasonal environments the seeds tend to exhibit a considerable delay of germination until environmental conditions are suitable for seedling establishment (Figueroa et al, 2004). In a recent study, Whittle (2006) claims to have found a positive correlation between seed persistence and molecular evolutionary rates

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion