Seed Production and Germination Response of Four Louisiana Populations of Uniola paniculata (Gramineae)

Abstract

Sea oats, Uniola paniculata, is a characteristic and often dominant perennial dune grass of the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. However, U. paniculata loses its dominance and becomes almost nonexistent along a relatively narrow portion of its range, from west of the Mississippi River delta, Louisiana, through northeastern Texas. In Louisiana, U. paniculata is abundant on the Chandeleur Islands east of the delta, but along the barrier island chain west of the delta only three sizable populations have been identified, all on the Caminada-Moreau coast. We measured seed production and germination response to various moisture and temperature combinations in these populations. Seed production was found to range from one to three orders of magnitude less than what has been reported in areas where U. paniculata is dominant. Rates ranged from 0.091 seeds/spikelet on the Chandeleur Islands to only 0.002 seeds/spikelet on the Caminada-Moreau coast; one population failed to produce any seeds at all. Seed germination in an 18.3–35.0 C alternating thermoperiod was high (65–88%) after exposure of the seeds to a variety of pregermination moisture and temperature conditions. Exposure to 4.4 C during imbibition did not increase percentage germination, but did significantly increase the rate of germination over the pregermination treatments that did not include moisture. The very low seed production rates of these populations could explain the limited distribution of this species along the Louisiana coast, where overwash events are frequent, and rates of coastline retreat often exceed the highest measured rates of vegetative lateral spread.