GERMINATION OF STORED SEEDS OF FOUR TREE SPECIES FROM THE TROPICAL DRY FOREST OF MORELOS, MEXICO

Abstract

<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Studies on propagation of trees of Tropical Dry Forests are scarce in Mexico, besides, the provenance of seeds used in reforestation programs is generally unknown or poorly addressed. Knowledge on seed germination patterns of different provenances, and how they change through time, is useful to identify adequate sources of seeds and to develop seed collection and storage programs under the low-tech conditions prevailing in most rural nurseries. We evaluated seed size variation and germination of stored seeds from three different provenances per species in <em>Acacia bilimekii</em>, <em>Haematoxylum brasiletto</em>, <em>Lysiloma acapulcense</em>, and<em> L. divaricatum</em>.<em> </em>Seeds were collected in four sites in the Tropical Dry Forest of Morelos, Mexico, and were stored at room temperature; seed size was estimated through the volume of 75 seeds per provenance/species. Seed germination tests were made periodically from six to 24 months after storage and the effects of provenance and storage time on germination were analyzed using Anovas. There were significant differences in seed size among provenances in all species, while the effect of provenance on germination rate was significant in three of them. Germination rate changed with storage time among species and provenances. After 24 months, germination capacity was still ≥ 50% in all provenances of the two <em>Lysiloma</em> species, but in <em>A.</em> <em>bilimekii</em> there were large differences among provenances. Mean germination capacity was low in <em>H. brasiletto</em> after six months. More research on seed germination and storage of a larger set of species and provenances is needed to restore the Mexican tropical dry forests. </span></span></p>