Role of temperature and light in the germination ecology of buried seeds of weedy species of disturbed forests. II. Erechtites hieracifolia

Abstract

At maturity in September, about half the seeds (achenes) of Erechtites hieracifolia (Asteraceae) collected in Kentucky were dormant (did not germinate at any test condition), whereas the others were conditionally dormant (germinated only at a narrow range of test conditions). Seeds sown on top of soil in an unheated greenhouse in September failed to germinate in autumn because temperatures were below those required for germination; however, they germinated at comparable temperatures the following spring. Seeds buried in soil in September 1987 and exposed to natural seasonal temperature changes were nondormant (germinated over full range of test conditions) by April 1988, but they entered conditional dormancy by October 1988. Each October through 1995, exhumed seeds exhibited conditional dormancy. Since 89% of the seeds were viable after 8 years of burial, it appears that although seeds of this species are wind dispersed, they also have the potential to form a long-lived seed bank. Thus, soil disturbance at any time from May to September could result in establishment of plants from seeds in the seed bank. Keywords: seed dormancy, Asteraceae, dormancy cycles, buried seeds, light.