Plant Ecology

, Volume 205, Issue 2, pp 285–293 | Cite as

Seed germination and seedling survival traits of invasive and non-invasive congeneric Ruellia species (Acanthaceae) in Yucatan, Mexico

Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

We compared requirements for seed germination and seedling establishment for Ruellia nudiflora, an invasive species in Yucatan, Mexico with those of the congeneric non-invasive R. pereducta. Germination and seedling survival rates were higher for R. nudiflora than for R. pereducta under high light. Additionally, the ranges of temperature and water potential that allow germination for R. nudiflora were much broader than those of R. pereducta. Seedlings of R. nudiflora exhibited higher survival to drought by shedding their leaves during drought, an important strategy in environments under extreme drought. Seedlings of R. nudiflora also exhibited higher extreme temperature tolerance than R. pereducta seedlings. Overall, traits exhibited by R. nudiflora such as ability to germinate under a wide range of conditions, adaptation to environmental stress and high tolerance to environmental heterogeneity during the seedling stage, have been repeatedly recognized as determinants of colonization success of invasive species in open disturbed areas.

Keywords

Germination Seedling survival Drought tolerance Temperature tolerance Weed Invasive 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgements

We thank Luis Salinas, Dennis Marrufo for field assistance and Luis Abdala and two anonymous reviewers for comments that improved an earlier version of the manuscript. This study was financially supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) through a postdoctoral fellowship to JCC and as part of a grant given to VPT (SEP 2004-CO1-4658A/A1).

References

  1. Ackerly D (2004) Functional strategies of chaparral shrubs in relation to seasonal water deficit and disturbance. Ecol Mon 74:25–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Andrade JL (2003) Dew deposition on epiphytic bromeliads leaves: an important event in a Mexican tropical dry deciduous forest. J Trop Ecol 19:479–488. doi: 10.1017/S0266467403003535 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Baruch Z, Goldstein G (1999) Leaf construction cost, nutrient concentration, and net CO2 assimilation of native and invasive species in Hawaii. Oecologia 121:183–192. doi: 10.1007/s004420050920 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Baskin CC, Baskin JM (2001) Seeds; ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. Academic Press, San DiegoGoogle Scholar
  5. Binggeli P (1996) A taxonomic, biogeographical and ecological overview of invasive woody plants. J Veg Sci 7:121–124. doi: 10.2307/3236424 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Campos-Ríos MG, Chiang F (2006) Una revision nomenclatural de los tipos de plantas de la Península de Yucatán (México). Polibotanica 22:89–149Google Scholar
  7. Cervera JC, Andrade JL, Simá JL, Graham E (2006) Microhabitats, germination and establishment for Mammillaria gaumeri (Cactaceae), a rare species from Yucatan. Int J Plant Sci 167:311–319. doi: 10.1086/498650 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Clark JS, Lewis M, Horvath L (2001) Invasion by extremes: population spread with variation in dispersal and reproduction. Am Nat 157:537–554. doi: 10.1086/319934 CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Daniel TF (1997) The Acanthaceae of California and the Peninsula of Baja California. Proc Calif Acad Sci 49:309–403Google Scholar
  10. Didden-Zopfy B, Nobel PS (1982) High temperature tolerance and heat acclimation of Opuntia bigelovii. Oecologia 52:176–180. doi: 10.1007/BF00363833 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Engelbrecht BMJ, Kursar TA (2003) Comparative drought resistance of seedlings of 28 species of co-occurring tropical woody plants. Oecologia 136:383–393. doi: 10.1007/s00442-003-1290-8 CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  12. Epstein E, Bloom AJ (2004) Mineral nutrition of plants: principles and perspectives. Sinauer, Sunderland, MassachusettsGoogle Scholar
  13. Goldberg D (1987) Neighborhood competition in an old-field plant community. Ecology 68:1211–1223CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Kleeman SGL, Chauhan BS, Gill GS (2007) Factors affecting seed germination of perennial wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) in Southern Australia. Weed Sci 55:481–485. doi: 10.1614/WS-06-197.1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Long RW (1977) Artificial induction of obligate cleistogamy in species hybrids in Ruellia (Acanthaceae). Bull Torrey Bot Club 104:53–56. doi: 10.2307/2484665 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Mack RN (1996) Predicting the identity and fate of plant invaders: emergent and emerging approaches. Biol Conserv 78:107–121. doi: 10.1016/0006-3207(96)00021-3 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. McAlpine KG, Drake DR (2002) The effects of small-scale environmental heterogeneity on seed germination in experimental treefall gaps in New Zealand. Plant Ecol 165:207–215. doi: 10.1023/A:1022247707932 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. McAlpine KG, Jesson LK (2008) Linking seed dispersal, germination and seedling recruitment in the invasive species Berberis darwinii (Darwin’s barberry). Plant Ecol 197:119–129. doi: 10.1007/s11258-007-9365-y CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. McDowell SLC (2002) Photosynthetic characteristics of invasive and non-invasive species of Rubus (Rosaceae). Am J Bot 89:1431–1438. doi: 10.3732/ajb.89.9.1431 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Meyer J-Y, Lavergne C (2004) Beautés fatales: Acanthaceae species as invasive alien plants on tropical Indo-Pacific islands. Divers Distrib 10:333–347. doi: 10.1111/j.1366-9516.2004.00094.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Michel BE, Radcliffe D (1995) A computer program relating solute potential to solution composition for five solutes. Agron J 87:126–130CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Nobel PS, De la Barrera E (2003) Tolerances and acclimation to low and high temperatures for cladodes, fruits and roots of a widely cultivated cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica. New Phytol 157:271–279. doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00675.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Noble IR (1988) Plant ecology. Academic Press, LondonGoogle Scholar
  24. Pons TL (1991) Induction of dark dormancy in seeds: its importance for the seed bank in the soil. Funct Ecol 5:669–675. doi: 10.2307/2389487 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Poorter L, Markesteijn L (2008) Seedling traits determine drought tolerance of tropical tree species. Biotropica 40:321–331. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00380.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Pysek P (1998) Is there a taxonomic pattern to plant invasions? Oikos 82:282–294. doi: 10.2307/3546968 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Pysek P, Richardson DM (2007) Traits associated with invasiveness in alien plants: where do we stand? In: Nentwig W (ed) Biological invasions, ecological studies 193. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 97–125Google Scholar
  28. Rejmanek M (1996) A theory of seed plant invasiveness: the first sketch. Biol Conserv 78:171–181. doi: 10.1016/0006-3207(96)00026-2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Sakai AK, Allendorf FW, Holt JS, Lodge DM, Molofsky J, With KA, Baughman S, Cabin RJ, Cohen JE, Ellstrand NC, McCauley DE, O’Neil P, Parker IM, Thompson JN, Weller SG (2001) The population biology of invasive species. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 32:305–332. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114037 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Schütz W, Milberg P, Lamont BB (2002) Seed dormancy, after-ripening and light requirements of four annual Asteraceae in south-western Australia. Ann Bot (Lond) 90:707–714. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcf250 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Sokal RR, Rohlf JH (1969) Biometry. Freeman and Co, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  32. Standley PC, Williams LO, Gibson DN (1974) Flora of Guatemala. Bignoniaceae, Pedaliaceae, Martyniaceae, Orobanchaceae, Gesneriaceae, Lentibulariaceae, Acanthaceae. Plantaginaceae. Fieldiana Bot 24:153–466Google Scholar
  33. Tripp E (2007) Evolutionary relationships within the species-rich genus Ruellia (Acanthaceae). Syst Bot 32:628–649. doi: 10.1600/036364407782250625 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Turner BL (1991) Texas species of Ruellia (Acanthaceae). Phytologia 71:281–299Google Scholar
  35. Tyree MT, Engelbrecht BMJ, Vargas G, Kursar TA (2003) Desiccation tolerance of five tropical seedlings in Panama. Relationship to a field assessment of drought performance. Plant Physiol 132:1439–1447. doi: 10.1104/pp.102.018937 CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  36. Veenendaal EM, Swaine MD, Agyeman VK, Abebrese IK, Mullins CE (1996) Differences in plant and soil water relations in and around a forest gap in West Africa may influence seedling establishment and survival. J Ecol 84:83–90. doi: 10.2307/2261702 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Villaseñor JL, Espinosa FJ (1998) Catálogo de malezas de México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y Fondo de Cultura Económica, México CityGoogle Scholar
  38. Williams DG, Black RA (1993) Phenotypic variation in contrasting temperature environments: growth and photosynthesis in Pennisetum setaceum from different altitudes on Hawaii. Funct Ecol 7:623–633. doi: 10.2307/2390140 CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Departamento de Ecología TropicalUniversidad Autónoma de YucatánMéridaMexico

Personalised recommendations