Seed Mucilage Improves Seedling Emergence of a Sand Desert Shrub

The success of seedling establishment of desert plants is determined by seedling emergence response to an unpredictable precipitation regime. Sand burial is a crucial and frequent environmental stress that impacts seedling establishment on sand dunes. However, little is known about the ecological role of seed mucilage in seedling emergence in arid sandy environments. We hypothesized that seed mucilage enhances seedling emergence in a low precipitation regime and under conditions of sand burial. In a greenhouse experiment, two types of Artemisia sphaerocephala achenes (intact and demucilaged) were exposed to different combinations of burial depth (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 mm) and irrigation regimes (low, medium and high, which simulated the precipitation amount and frequency in May, June and July in the natural habitat, respectively). Seedling emergence increased with increasing irrigation. It was highest at 5 mm sand burial depth and ceased at burial depths greater than 20 mm in all irrigation regimes. Mucilage significantly enhanced seedling emergence at 0, 5 and 10 mm burial depths in low irrigation, at 0 and 5 mm burial depths in medium irrigation and at 0 and 10 mm burial depths in high irrigation. Seed mucilage also reduced seedling mortality at the shallow sand burial depths. Moreover, mucilage significantly affected seedling emergence time and quiescence and dormancy percentages. Our findings suggest that seed mucilage plays an ecologically important role in successful seedling establishment of A. sphaerocephala by improving seedling emergence and reducing seedling mortality in stressful habitats of the sandy desert environment

Praktische Umsetzung der Bauartzulassung - Voraussetzungen fuer die Pruefung von Verfahrenstechnik und Eignung von Bodenbehandlungsanlagen Schlussbericht

Duration and scope of immission permitting are viewed by investors and politicians as an obstacle for investments. Acceleration and deregulation of permitting are essential to strengthen the economic power of Germany. Even a short term use of soil treatment facilities is often impossible due to the time consuming process of immission permitting. A preliminary study performed in 1993 proved the suitability of a design approval as a simplifying and accelerating tool. The presented research report shows the necessary prerequisites to put the theory into practice. As a basic tool an inspection program has been developed for soil treatment facilities. This inspection program is the framework for the evaluation of all types of processing facilities. It simplifies and accelerates the control on the basis of legal requirements. Three soil treatment facilities were taken as examples to examine the checking procedure. It could be proved that this kind of design approval is an appropriate tool to unify the permitting procedure in Germany. The pertinent agencies are relieved of the processing part of the inspection and they receive all relevant data necessary for inspection. The facility owner is gaining certainty regarding planning and investment which will positively effect the treatment industry. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(98-031) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekUmweltbundesamt, Berlin (Germany); Bundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Buttonweed emergence as affected by seed burial depth and straw on the soil surface

Knowledge of the effects of seed burial depth and the presence of straw on the soil surface on weed seedling emergence provides useful information for the development of weed management tactics. Buttonweed (Borreria densiflora DC.) is a troublesome weed that occurs in large infestations in soybean and sugarcane crops from north-central Brazil. This study investigated buttonweed emergence at different seed burial depths and straw amounts present on the soil surface. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse conditions, under a factorial design between four seed burial depths and four amounts of surface straw. Percent seedling emergence and fresh biomass (g) were evaluated at twenty-five days after installation (DAI). Greater buttonweed emergence occurred in seeds that were placed on the soil surface either without surface straw or with up to 1,000 kg ha−1 of straw on the soil surface. With 4,000 kg ha−1 of surface straw, buttonweed emergence was prevented when seeds were placed at a depth of 0.5 cm or deeper in the soil. These data indicated emergence of this weed species was greater at depths near the soil surface and in soils with the least amounts of surface straw. Information generated in this study provides a starting point for the development of knowledge for understanding the biology of buttonweed emergence and its population dynamics. Such information may be directly transmitted to growers and lays the groundwork for an integrated management approach for this weed species