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Habitat-related germination behaviour and emergence phenology in the woodland geophyte Anemone ranunculoides L. (Ranunculaceae) from northern Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

Andrea Mondoni ,
Robin Probert ,
Graziano Rossi  and
Fiona Hay
Andrea Mondoni*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Ecologia del Territorio, University of Pavia, Via S. Epifanio 14, I-27100Pavia, Italy
Robin Probert
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
Graziano Rossi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Ecologia del Territorio, University of Pavia, Via S. Epifanio 14, I-27100Pavia, Italy
Fiona Hay
Affiliation:
Seed Conservation Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK
*
*Correspondence Email: andrea.mondoni@unipv.it
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Abstract

This study examined whether the restricted habitat preference of the spring-flowering woodland geophyte Anemone ranunculoides L., compared with that of A. nemorosa growing in the same woodlands in northern Italy, could be explained by subtle differences in germination preference and emergence phenology. Immediately after harvest, seeds of A. ranunculoides were either sown on agar in the laboratory under simulated seasonal temperatures or placed in nylon mesh sachets and buried in the wild. Embryos, undifferentiated at the time of seed dispersal, grew during summer in the laboratory and in the wild, culminating in radicle emergence in the autumn, when temperatures fell to c. 15°C. Shoot emergence was delayed under natural conditions until soil temperature had dropped further to c. 10°C. Compared with populations of the closely related Anemone nemorosa L. occupying the same woodland habitat, which have been reported to have non-dormant radicles, A. ranunculoides displayed a narrower temperature tolerance for radicle emergence and high levels of germination were possible only after prolonged exposure to summer conditions, indicating physiological dormancy. However, unlike A. nemorosa, shoot emergence in A. ranunculoides was not dependent on winter temperatures, suggesting weaker epicotyl morphophysiological dormancy. Under a regime of diurnal temperature alternation, simulating the microclimate where there is little plant cover, germination failed almost completely; this could explain the absence of A. ranunculoides in open habitats.

Keywords

Anemone ranunculoidesecological adaptationembryo growthepicotyl morphophysiological dormancyradicle and shoot emergenceseed germination
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 137 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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