Temperature effect on seed germination of four plants in sand from coastal sand dunes in Greece

Abstract

In high temperatures of coastal sand dunes, salt may limit seed germination and thus strogly limit plant survival. The relationship between germination and sand dunes soil temperatures has never been evaluated. The effect of coastal dunes sands on plant germination at 20°C and 28°C was studied. Sand samples of coastal dunes from coastline regions in Greece were analyzed and used as substrates. The Si content (89-97%) is the representative one in all soils. The Si, Al and Mg contents in the Aegean Sea sand dunes were higher than the Ionian Sea. Pigweed germination at 28°C in sand from mainland Greece was higher than the corresponding one from insular Greece. Purslane germination at 28°C in sand from the Ionian Sea (52%-57%) was higher than the corresponding one from the Aegean Sea (49%-50%) and at 20°C it remained unaffected by the soil. Chervil and coriander germination at 20°C was very low, while no germination occurred in pigweed at 20°C and chervil and coriander at 28°C in all sand soils. The study has shown that the coastal dune soils favoured germination of pigweed and purslane at 28°C. These results indicate that those plants have adapted to the coastal sand dunes environment.