Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:15:06.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dormancy break and germination requirements in acorns of two bottomland Quercus species (Sect. Lobatae) of the eastern United States with references to ecology and phylogeny

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2020

Tracy S. Hawkins Open the ORCID record for Tracy S. Hawkins [Opens in a new window]
Tracy S. Hawkins*
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research, Box 9681, Mississippi State, MS39762, USA
*
Correspondence: Tracy S. Hawkins, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Quercus species are ecologically and economically important components of deciduous forests of the eastern United States. However, knowledge pertinent to a thorough understanding of acorn germination dynamics for these species is lacking. The objectives of this research were to determine dormancy break and germination requirements for acorns of two eastern United States bottomland species, Quercus nigra and Quercus phellos (Section Lobatae), and to present results within ecological and phylogenetic contexts. Three replicates of 50 acorns of each species received 0 (control), 6, 12 or 18 weeks of cold stratification, followed by incubation in alternating temperature regimes of 15/6, 20/10, 25/15 and 30/20°C. Eighteen weeks of cold stratification were not sufficient for dormancy break in Q. nigra acorns. Cumulative germination percentages at 4 weeks of incubation were ≥77%, but only in incubation temperatures of 25/15 and 30/20°C. Dormancy break in Q. phellos acorns was achieved with 18 weeks of cold stratification, and cumulative germination percentages were ≥87% at 4 weeks of incubation in all test temperature regimes. Gibberellic acid solutions were not an effective substitute for cold stratification in either species. Phylogenetically, Q. nigra and Q. phellos are closely related species and, ecologically, both grow in the same habitat. Acorns of both species possess deep physiological dormancy (PD), but dormancy break and germination requirements differ in acorns of these two Quercus species.

Keywords

acorn dormancyacorn germinationLobataeoak regenerationQuercus nigraQuercus phellos
Type
Research Paper
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 199 - 205
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, MD (1992) Fire and the development of oak forests. BioScience 42, 346–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, R and Farmer, RE Jr (1977) Germination characteristics of bear oak. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 1, 19–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, PH and Pezeshki, SR (2000) The effects of intermittent flooding on seedlings of three forest species. Photsynthetica 37, 543–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthur, MA, Alexander, HD, Dey, DC, Schweitzer, CJ and Loftis, DL (2012) Refining the oak-fire hypothesis for management of oak-dominated forests of the eastern United States. Journal of Forestry 110, 257–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, JM and Baskin, CC (2004) A classification system for seed dormancy. Seed Science Research 14, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, CC and Baskin, JM (2014) Seeds: ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination (2nd edn). San Diego, Elsevier Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bonner, FT and Karrfalt, RP (2008) The woody plant seed manual. Washington, DC, U.S. Forest Service. Agriculture Handbook 727.Google Scholar
Bonner, FT and Vozzo, JA (1987) Seed biology and technology of Quercus. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruhn, JN, Wetteroff, JJ Jr, Mihail, JD, Kabrick, JM and Pickens, JB (2008) Distribution of Armillaria species in upland Ozark Mountain forests with respect to site, overstory species composition and oak decline. European Journal of Forest Pathology 30, 43–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavender-Bares, J (2016) Diversity, distribution, and ecosystem services in the North American Oaks. International Oaks 27, 37–48.Google Scholar
Cypert, E and Webster, BS (1948) Yield and use by wildlife of acorns of water and willow oaks. Journal of Wildlife Management 12, 227–231.Google Scholar
Dey, DC, Jacobs, D, McNabb, K, Miller, G, Baldwin, V and Foster, G (2008) Artificial regeneration of major oak (Quercus) species in the eastern United States – a review of the literature. Forest Science 54, 77–106.Google Scholar
Gardiner, ES (2001) Ecology of bottomland oaks in the southeastern United States. International Oaks 12, 48–55.Google Scholar
Gardiner, ES, Hodges, JD and Fristoe, TC (2004) Flood plain topography affects establishment success of direct-seeded bottomland oaks, in Connor, KF (Ed.) Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference. Asheville, North Carolina, USDA Forest Service. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-71.Google Scholar
Guo, Y, Shelton, MG and Lockhart, BR (1998) Effects of flood duration and season on germination of black, cherrybark, northern red, and water oak acorns. New Forests 15, 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guyette, RP, Muzika, RM and Dey, DC (2002) Dynamics of an anthropogenic fire regime. Ecosystems 5, 472–486.Google Scholar
Haavik, LJ, Jones, JS, Galligan, LD, Guldin, JM and Stephen, FM (2012) Oak decline and red oak borer outbreak: impact in upland oak-hickory forests of Arkansas, USA. Forestry 85, 341–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, TS (2019a) Regulating acorn germination and seedling emergence in Quercus pagoda (Raf.) as it relates to natural and artificial regeneration. New Forests 50, 425–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, TS (2019b) The influence of dormancy break requirements on germination and viability responses to winter submergence in acorns of three bottomland red oak (Sect. Lobatae) species. Forest Science 65, 556–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, TS, Baskin, CC and Baskin, JM (2010a) Morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of three eastern North American Sanicula species (Apiaceae subf. Saniculoideae): evolutionary implications for dormancy break. Plant Species Biology 25, 103–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, TS, Skojac, DA Jr, Schiff, NM and Leininger, TD (2010b) Floristic composition and potential competitors in Lindera melissifolia (Lauraceae) colonies in Mississippi with reference to hydrologic regime. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 4, 381–390.Google Scholar
Hipp, AL, Manos, PS, González-Rodríguez, A, Hahn, M, Kaproth, M, McVay, JD, Avalos, SV and Cavender-Bares, J (2018) Sympatric parallel diversification of major oak clades in the Americas and the origins of Mexican species diversity. New Phytologist 217, 439–452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodges, JD (1994) The southern hardwood bottomland region and brown loam bluffs subregion, pp. 227–269 in Barrett, JW (Ed.) Regional silviculture of the United States (3rd edn). New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.Google Scholar
Hopper, GM, Smith, DW and Parrish, DJ (1985) Germination and seedling growth of northern red oak: effects of stratification and pericarp removal. Forest Science 31, 31–39.Google Scholar
Kelley, MB, Fierke, MK and Stephen, FM (2009) Identification and distribution of Armillaria species associated with an oak decline event in the Arkansas Ozarks. Forest Pathology 39, 397–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, SL and Keeland, BD (1999) Evaluation of reforestation in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley. Restoration Ecology 7, 348–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, X, Baskin, JM and Baskin, CC (1999) Physiological dormancy and germination requirements of seeds of several North American Rhus species (Anacardiaceae). Seed Science Research 9, 237–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGee, CE (1972) From a defective hardwood stand to multiple use opportunity. Journal of Forestry 70, 700–704.Google Scholar
Peterson, JK (1983) Mechanisms involved in delayed germination of Quercus nigra L. seeds. Annals of Botany 52, 81–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute, Inc. (2007) The SAS System for Windows, Release V9.4. Cary, North Carolina, SAS Institute.Google Scholar
Schlaegel, BE (1990) Quercus phellos L., willow oak, pp. 715–720 in Burns, R.M. and Honkala, BH (Eds) Silvics of North America: Volume 2. Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654. Washington, DC, USDA Forest Service.Google Scholar
Stanturf, JA, Gardiner, ES, Hamel, PB, Devall, MS, Leininger, TD and Warren, ME (2000) Restoring bottomland hardwood ecosystems in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial. Journal of Forestry 98, 10–16.Google Scholar
Starkey, DA, Oliveria, F, Mangini, A and Mielke, M (2004) Oak decline and red oak borer in the interior highlands of Arkansas and Missouri: natural phenomena, severe occurrences, pp. 217–222 in Spetich, MA (Ed.) Upland oak ecology symposium: history, current conditions, and sustainability. Asheville, North Carolina, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Gen Tech. Rep. SRS-73.Google Scholar
Stein, JD, Binion, D and Acciavatti, R (2003) Field guide to native oak species of eastern North America. Morgantown, West Virginia, USDA Forest Service. FHTET-2003-01.Google Scholar
Stephen, FM, Salisbury, VB and Oliveria, FL (2001) Red oak borer, Enaphalodes rufulus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas, USA: an unexpected and remarkable forest disturbance. Integrated Pest Management Reviews 6, 247–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, P (1965) Temperature and seed dormancy, pp. 746–803 in Ruhland, W (Ed.) Encyclopedia of plant physiology, vol. 15, part 2. Berlin, Springer.Google Scholar
Vozzo, JA (1990) Quercus nigra L., water oak, pp. 701–703 in Burns, RM and Honkala, BH (Eds) Silvics of North America: Volume 2. Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654. Washington, DC, USDA Forest Service.Google Scholar
Wirges, G and Yeisiker, J (1984) Stratification and germination of Arkansas oak acorns. Tree Planters’ Notes 35, 36–38.Google Scholar