Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species
Understanding how seed functional traits interact with environmental factors to determine seedling recruitment is critical to assess the impact of climate change on ecosystem restoration. This study focused on the effects of environmental factors on the mother plant during early plant life history s...
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/13/3/148 |
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| author | Fernanda C. Beveridge Alwyn Williams Robyn Cave Sundaravelpandian Kalaipandian Mirza M. Haque Steve W. Adkins |
| author_facet | Fernanda C. Beveridge Alwyn Williams Robyn Cave Sundaravelpandian Kalaipandian Mirza M. Haque Steve W. Adkins |
| author_sort | Fernanda C. Beveridge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding how seed functional traits interact with environmental factors to determine seedling recruitment is critical to assess the impact of climate change on ecosystem restoration. This study focused on the effects of environmental factors on the mother plant during early plant life history stages and during seed development. <i>Desmodium brachypodum</i> A. Gray (large tick trefoil, Fabaceae) was used as a model species. Firstly, this study analyzed seed germination traits in response to temperature and moisture stress. Secondly, it investigated how seed burial depth interacts with temperature and soil moisture to influence seedling emergence traits. Finally, it determined if contrasting levels of post-anthesis soil moisture could result in changes in <i>D. brachypodum</i> reproductive biology and seed and seedling functional traits. The results showed that elevated temperature and moisture stress interacted to significantly reduce the seed germination and seedling emergence (each by >50%), while the seed burial improved the seedling emergence. Post-anthesis soil moisture stress negatively impacted the plant traits, reducing the duration of the reproductive phenology stage (by 9 days) and seed production (by almost 50%). Unexpectedly, soil moisture stress did not affect most seed or seedling traits. In conclusion, elevated temperatures combined with low soil moisture caused significant declines in seed germination and seedling emergence. On the other hand, the reproductive output of <i>D. brachypodum</i> had low seed variability under soil moisture stress, which might be useful when sourcing seeds from climates with high variability. Even so, a reduction in seed quantity under maternal moisture stress can impact the long-term survival of restored plant populations. |
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| id | doaj.art-252a3e16f95a47d7b45e85deb1b91898 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:32:01Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
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| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-252a3e16f95a47d7b45e85deb1b918982024-03-27T13:22:05ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372024-02-0113314810.3390/biology13030148Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume SpeciesFernanda C. Beveridge0Alwyn Williams1Robyn Cave2Sundaravelpandian Kalaipandian3Mirza M. Haque4Steve W. Adkins5School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, AustraliaUnderstanding how seed functional traits interact with environmental factors to determine seedling recruitment is critical to assess the impact of climate change on ecosystem restoration. This study focused on the effects of environmental factors on the mother plant during early plant life history stages and during seed development. <i>Desmodium brachypodum</i> A. Gray (large tick trefoil, Fabaceae) was used as a model species. Firstly, this study analyzed seed germination traits in response to temperature and moisture stress. Secondly, it investigated how seed burial depth interacts with temperature and soil moisture to influence seedling emergence traits. Finally, it determined if contrasting levels of post-anthesis soil moisture could result in changes in <i>D. brachypodum</i> reproductive biology and seed and seedling functional traits. The results showed that elevated temperature and moisture stress interacted to significantly reduce the seed germination and seedling emergence (each by >50%), while the seed burial improved the seedling emergence. Post-anthesis soil moisture stress negatively impacted the plant traits, reducing the duration of the reproductive phenology stage (by 9 days) and seed production (by almost 50%). Unexpectedly, soil moisture stress did not affect most seed or seedling traits. In conclusion, elevated temperatures combined with low soil moisture caused significant declines in seed germination and seedling emergence. On the other hand, the reproductive output of <i>D. brachypodum</i> had low seed variability under soil moisture stress, which might be useful when sourcing seeds from climates with high variability. Even so, a reduction in seed quantity under maternal moisture stress can impact the long-term survival of restored plant populations.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/13/3/148climate changemoisture stressphysical dormancyplant recruitmentseed ecologyseed functional traits |
| spellingShingle | Fernanda C. Beveridge Alwyn Williams Robyn Cave Sundaravelpandian Kalaipandian Mirza M. Haque Steve W. Adkins Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species Biology climate change moisture stress physical dormancy plant recruitment seed ecology seed functional traits |
| title | Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species |
| title_full | Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species |
| title_fullStr | Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species |
| title_short | Environmental Effects during Early Life-History Stages and Seed Development on Seed Functional Traits of an Australian Native Legume Species |
| title_sort | environmental effects during early life history stages and seed development on seed functional traits of an australian native legume species |
| topic | climate change moisture stress physical dormancy plant recruitment seed ecology seed functional traits |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/13/3/148 |
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