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Strong light inhibits germination of Artemisia sphaerocephala and A. ordosica at low temperature and its relevance to revegetation in sandy lands of Inner Mongolia, China

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Artemisia sphaerocephala and A. ordosica are two dominant shrub species in Mu Us sandy land (Inner Mongolia, China) and are widely used for vegetation restoration. However, there are two different conclusions about the effect of light on their germination: light promotes germination versus light inhibits germination. The aim of this study was to evaluate these two conclusions and relate the results to instances of failure of these two species to germinate well when air-dispersed in revegetation projects. The effects of fluctuating temperature, light/dark, source (population), position on mother plant, storage condition, and storage time were tested on germination of achenes of these two species. At low temperature, final percent germination (FPG) of achenes in dark and nearly dark conditions was significantly higher than those in light. At 10:20°C, achenes of both A. sphaerocephala and A. ordosica had higher FPG in dark than in light regardless of source, position on mother plants or storage condition. At suboptimum (5:15°C) and supraoptimal (25:35°C) temperatures, germination of A. sphaerocephala and A. ordosica achenes was inhibited in both light and darkness. It was concluded that light inhibits germination of A. sphaerocephala and A. ordosica achenes at low (10:20°C) temperature but not at high (15:25°C) temperature. Since the temperature in Mu Us sandy land is around 10:20°C in early June, when air sowing is done, achenes should germinate best when they are covered by a thin layer of sand.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [30671724], Key Project of Knowledge Innovation Engineering, CAS [KZCX2-YW-JC303] and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2006BAD26B0201-1]. The Arid Land Research Centre, Tottori University, Japan, supplied all necessary equipment, which is deeply appreciated. We thank Professors Carol Baskin and Jerry Baskin, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA, for help with the manuscript, in particular, with the English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China

    Liming Lai, Yuanrun Zheng & Hua Bai

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Liming Lai

  3. Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Yunjiang Yu

  4. Arid Land Research Centre, Tottori University, 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori, 680-0001, Japan

    Ping An & Xiangjun Li

  5. Office of Global Learning, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, 67260-0142, USA

    Glyn M. Rimmington

  6. National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, 305-8506, Japan

    Hideyuki Shimizu

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  1. Liming Lai
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  2. Yuanrun Zheng
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  3. Hua Bai
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Correspondence to Yuanrun Zheng.

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Lai, L., Zheng, Y., Bai, H. et al. Strong light inhibits germination of Artemisia sphaerocephala and A. ordosica at low temperature and its relevance to revegetation in sandy lands of Inner Mongolia, China. Ecol Res 25, 771–780 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-010-0706-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-010-0706-2

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