Scientifica Acta 1, No. 1, 54 – 56 (2007)

Experimental Ecology and Geobotany

Field and laboratory studies of germination phenology in pop-ulations of Anemone nemorosa L. and A. ranunculoides fromnorthern Italy.

Andrea MondoniDipartimento di Ecologia del Territorio, Università di Pavia, Via S. Epifanio, 14, 27100 Pavia, Italymondoni@et.unipv.it

Anemone nemorosa L. and A. ranunculoides are spring flowering, woodland geophytes which are widelydistributed across much of Europe with the exception of the Mediterranean region where they rare. A. ra-nunculoides is relative scarcer compared to A. nemorosa, being not recorded in four Mediterranean (Alba-nia, Corse, Greek, Turkey) and two Oceanic (Ireland, Britain) Countries, where instead A. nemorosa grows[7]. Germination phenology, including embryo development, radical emergence and shoot emergence wasinvestigated in three lowland (∼ 80 m asl) (fig. 1 left) and one mountain (∼1350 m asl) populations of A.nemorosa and in one lowland population of A ranunculoides (fig. 1 right) from Northern Italy.

Fig. 1: Left: One of the three lowland populations of A. nemorosa L. Right: Lowland populations of A. ranunculoides.

In the following extend abstract has been reported part of the results concern the lowland and mountainpopulations of A. nemorosa, which has been presented at the II Seed Ecology Conference held in Perthin September 2007 [4]. Immediately after harvest in early May, at the time of natural dispersal, achenes(hereafter referred to as seeds), were either sown on agar in the laboratory under simulated seasonal tem-peratures or placed in nylon mesh sachets and buried in leaf litter under natural conditions [5]. The seedsof both species were collected from the plants making sure that the vascular connections had been severe.At time of collection seeds were still green and had a high water content. The laboratory experimentswere conduced in temperature and light controlled incubators with 12 h daily photoperiods (4000K, 20W),using three replications of 50 seeds for each test [2, 6]. Embryo development and the timing of root andshoot emergence were tracked in the natural habitat by recovering nylon mesh sachets, each containing50 seeds, at 30 d intervals during the summer (May – Sept) and then at 5 d intervals through the Autumnand Winter. Temperature (˚C) and relative humidity (%) were measured at the same level as the sachets athourly intervals using electronic data loggers (TinyTag). Embryo length was measured in the laboratoryusing a dissecting microscope equipped with micrometer [3].

c© 2007 Università degli Studi di Pavia

Scientifica Acta 1, No. 1 (2007) 55

Fig. 2: Mesh bags filled with seeds of A. nemorosa and buried under the leaf litter in the natural habitat.

Embryos, undifferentiated at the time of dispersal [1] grew under summer conditions in the laboratoryand in the field. However, seeds were not able to germinate under continuous summer conditions. Radicleemergence in the field was first recorded in late September when soil temperatures had dropped to lowervalues, both in the mountain and the lowland populations. Differences in the timing of germination in thelaboratory in relation to simulated seasonal temperatures (fig. 3) indicates ecological adaptation of seedgermination behavior to the lowland and mountain sites. Shoot emergence (fig. 4) was delayed undernatural conditions until late autumn / early winter when soil temperatures had dropped further. The

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Fig. 3: Radicle (r) and shoot (s) emergence in lowland (Np) and mountain (Nm) populations of A. nemorosa L. undera cycle of seasonal temperatures in the laboratory that mimicked natural conditions.

remarkably similar germination phenology of lowland and mountain populations of A. nemorosa L isenabled by subtle differences in the optimum temperatures for root and shoot emergence. The extent thatthese differences reflect genetic adaptation remains to be investigated.

c© 2007 Università degli Studi di Pavia

56 Scientifica Acta 1, No. 1 (2007)

Fig. 4: Shoot emergence of A. nemorosa L. in the natural habitat.

Acknowledgements I’m grateful to Graziano Rossi, Robin Probert and Costantino Bonomi for helped me in thisstudy. Many thank also to my family and my girlfriends Giulia which encouraged me every time.

References[1] N. Ali, R. Probert, F. Hay, H. Davies, W. Stuppy, Seed Science and Research, 17, 155 (2007).[2] C. C. Baskin, J. M. Baskin, Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination (Aca-

demic Press, London, 1998).[3] T. Kondo, T. Miura, N. Okubo, M. Shimada, C. Baskin, J. Baskin, Seed Science Research, 14, 371 (2004).[4] A. Mondoni, R. Probert, C. Bonomi, G. Rossi, Germination Phenology in Lowland and Mountain Populations of

Wood Anemone (Anemone Nemorosa L.) from Northern Italy, The 2nd International Society for Seed ScienceMeeting on Seeds and the Environment (Perth Western Australia. 9th-13th September 2007).

[5] R. D. Smith, J. D. Dickie, S. H. Linington, H. W. Pritchard, R. J. Probert, Seed conservation: turning science intopractice (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2004).

[6] N. Toshikazu, N. Yoshiji, W. Eriko, Scientia Horticulturae, 99, 345 (2004).[7] T. G. Tutin, V. H. Heywood , N. A. Burges, D. H. Valentine, S. M. Walters and D. A. Webb, Flora Europaea, vol.

1 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1964).

c© 2007 Università degli Studi di Pavia