DORMANCY RELEASING MECHANISMS IN SOIL SEED BANKS OF Desmanthus GENOTYPES

Autores

  • José Henrique de Albuquerque Rangel Embrapa tabuleiros Costeiros
  • Christopher Peter Gardiner James Cook University, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
  • Robert Lewis Burt James Cook University. School of Marine and Tropical Bilology

Palavras-chave:

Donkey bean. Bush fire. Strophiole. Seedcoat dormancy.

Resumo

Desmanthus is a genus of forage legumes with potential to improve pastures and livestock production on clay soils of dry tropical and subtropical regions such as the existing in Brazil and Australia. Despite this patterns of natural or enforced after-ripening of Desmanthus seeds have not been well established. Four year old seed banks of nine Desmanthus genotypes at James Cook University were accessed for their patterns of seed softening in response to a range of temperatures. Persistent seed banks were found to exist under all of the studied genotypes. The largest seeds banks were found in the genotypes CPI 78373 and CPI 78382 and the smallest in the genotypes CPI’s 37143, 67643, and 83563. An increase in the percentage of softened seeds was correlated with higher temperatures, in two patterns of response: in some accessions seeds were not significantly affected by temperatures below 80º C; and in others, seeds become soft when temperature rose to as little as 60 ºC. At 80 °C the heat started to depress germination. High seed production of Desmanthus associated with dependence of seeds on elevated temperatures to softening can be a very important strategy for plants to survive in dry tropical regions.

Biografia do Autor

  • José Henrique de Albuquerque Rangel, Embrapa tabuleiros Costeiros
    Pesquisador da Embrapa tabuleiros Costeiros, tendo como foco principal de estudo o manejo de pastagens tropicais, leguminosas forrageiras tropicais e sistemas de integração Lavoura/Pecuária/Floresta
  • Christopher Peter Gardiner, James Cook University, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
    Department of Animal Health Production. Lecturer of Livestock Productio Science
  • Robert Lewis Burt, James Cook University. School of Marine and Tropical Bilology
    Former Lecturer of Tropical Agriculture of the School of Marine and Tropical Biology. Ceased in February 2009

Downloads

Publicado

13-04-2015

Edição

Seção

Agronomia