Germination Responses of Several Poaceae Members towards Differential Storage Durations

Abstract

Concerns over biodiversity loss and increasing biological invasion have forced interest on assessment of the effects on native plant species diversity in grassland community. To observe different patterns of grass emergence (dormancy/germination) in the warm tropical grasslands of India, time span of a seed from the seedling stage to a mature plant becomes very crucial for the community development. In the present study seed germination response of six dominant species of the selected study area were tested to record the various effects of dry storage conditions on seed germinability. The species selected were Apluda mutica L., Cenchrus ciliaris L., Chrysopogon fulvus (Spreng.) Chiov., Dichanthium annulatum (Forsk.) Stapf., Heteropogon contortus (L.) P. Beauv. ex Roem. and Schult. and Themeda triandra (R. Br.) Stapf. For this purpose, seed collection at mature seed stage, seed processing and dry seed storage were followed by the germination test system. Obtained results are exhibited in the form of different responses such as, species response patterns towards capacity for immediate germination, responses to dormancy, dry storage and temperature fluctuation. The extent of the requirement in breakage of primary dormancy was highly correlated with the timing of seed maturity, precursors of seed dormancy and seed viability. In present screening out of the six studied species Apluda mutica, Cenchrus ciliaris and Dichanthium annulatum showed dependable germination pattern to fluctuating temperature. The correlation between viability and germination suggests that the germination of Apluda mutica, Cenchrus ciliaris and Themeda triandra are linearly dependent on the viability that the seeds of these species have. As these species showed less influence with the relative fluctuating environment, they can be stored for longer period and frequently can be use for community regeneration in pasture development.