Smoke originating from different plants has various effects on germination and seedling growth of species in Fescue Prairie

Abstract

Little is known about how smoke, an important germination cue, influences seed regeneration of species in Fescue Prairies. Whether germination and seedling growth responses vary with smoke produced from different materials is still ambiguous. In this study, seeds of four forbs from a Fescue Prairie were primed in serial dilutions of aqueous smoke solutions produced from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), prairie hay (Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper), and wheat straw (Triticum aestivum L.), and incubated at 10–0 °C or 25–15 °C in a 12 h light – 12 h dark cycle or 24 h darkness for 49 d. Nonprimed seeds and those primed in distilled water were used as controls. Germination and radical length of Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist increased after priming in concentrated smoke-solutions derived from alfalfa, but decreased after priming in the same concentrated smoke solutions made from prairie hay and wheat straw at 25–15 °C in 24 h darkness. Smoke substituted for light improved germination of Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt. Our results indicate that the effect of smoke on seed germination and seedling growth was temperature- and light-dependent. It appears that smoke produced from alfalfa had different compounds that, in turn, had different germination and seedling growth responses as compared with the smoke produced from prairie hay and wheat straw.