Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T09:45:18.772Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Soil Light Penetration and Dormancy of Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) Seeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Stefano Benvenuti*
Affiliation:
Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento “S. Anna,” Via Carducci 40, 56100 Pisa, Italy

Abstract

Trials were carried out to determine the degree of light transmittance through soil and its role in photo-induced germination of buried weed seeds. Transmittance was found to be strongly dependent on soil type and decreased with decreasing particle size and with an increase in darker components. In each soil examined, light penetration fell below 0.01% at a depth of no more than 4 mm. It was also noted that with increasing soil depth, light permeability was proportional to wavelength, leading to progressive decline in the red-far red ratio. Low light penetration played a crucial role in germination of jimsonweed seeds, which had became light-sensitive after prolonged burial. Although this effect is a function of soil type, it may represent an important ecological factor influencing seed emergence in the first few mm of upper soil layers.

Type
Weed biology and Ecology
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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

LITERATURE CITED

1. Ballarè, C. L., Scopel, A. L., Ghersa, C. M., and Sanchez, R. A. 1988. The fate of Datura ferox seeds in the soil as affected by cultivation, depth of burial and degree of maturity. Ann. Appl. Biol. 112:337345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Ballarè, C. L., Scopel, A. L., Sanchez, R. A., and Radosevich, S. R. 1992. Photomorphogenic processes in the agricultural environment. Photochem. Photobiol. 56:777788.Google Scholar
3. Benvenuti, S. and Lercari, B. 1994. Effect of canopy light environment during seed ripening on germination of Datura stramonium L. seeds. Agric. Medit. 124:8691.Google Scholar
4. Bliss, D. and Smith, H. Penetration of light into soil and its role in the control of seed germination. Plant Cell and Environ. 8:475483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Bouwmeester, H. J. and Karssen, C. M., 1989. Environmental factors influencing the expression of dormancy patterns in weed seeds. Ann. Bot. 63:113120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Cone, J. W., Jaspers, P. A., and Kendrik, R. E. 1985. Biphasic fluence-response curves for light induced germination of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. Plant, Cell and Environ. 8:605612.Google Scholar
7. Frankland, B. 1981. Germination in shade. Pages 187204 in Smith, H., ed., Plants and the Daylight Spectrum Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
8. Grime, J. P. 1974. Vegetation classification by reference to strategies. Nature, 250:2631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Hartmann, K. M. and Nezadal, W. 1990. Photocontrol of weeds without herbicides. Naturwissenshaften. 77:158163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Hurt, W. and Taylorson, R. B. 1986. Chemical manipulation of weed emergence. Weed Res. 26:259–257.Google Scholar
11. Kasperbauer, M. J. and Hunt, P. G. 1988. Biological and photometric measurement of light transmission through soil of various colors. Bot. Gaz. 149:361364.Google Scholar
12. Kronenberg, G.H.M. and Kendrick, R. E. 1986. Pages 99114 in Kendrick, R. E. and Kronenberg, G. H. M., eds. The physiology of action. Photo-morphogenesis in Plants, Martinus Nijoff, Dordrecht.Google Scholar
13. Mandoli, D. F. and Briggs, W. R. 1981. Phytochrome control of two low-irradiance responses in etiolated oat seedlings. Plant Physiol. 67:733739.Google Scholar
14. Mandoli, D. F., Ford, G. A., Waltron, L. J., Nemson, J. A., and Briggs, W. R. 1990. Some spectral properties of several soil types: implication for photo-morphogenesis. Plant, Cell and Environ. 13:287294.Google Scholar
15. Mapes, G., Rothwell, G. W., and Haworth, M. T. 1989. Evolution of seed dormancy. Nature. 337:645646.Google Scholar
16. Reisman-Berman, O., Kiegel, J., and Rubin, B. 1991. Dormancy patterns in buried seeds of Datura ferox and D. stramonium . Can. J. Bot. 69:173179.Google Scholar
17. Roberts, H. A. and Feast, P. M. 1973. Changes in the numbers of viable seeds in soil under different regimes. Weed Res. 13:298302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Sauer, J. and Struik, G. 1964. A possible ecological relation between soil disturbance, light-flash, and seed germination. Ecology. 45:884886.Google Scholar
19. Scopel, A. L., Ballarè, C. L., and Sanchez, R. A. 1991. Induction of extreme light sensitivity in buried weed seeds and its role in the perception of soil cultivations. Plant, Cell and Environ. 14:501508.Google Scholar
20. Scopel, A. L., Ballarè, C. L., and Radosevich, S. R. 1994. Photostimulation of seed germination during soil tillage. New Phytol. 126:145152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Taylorson, R. B. 1972. Phytochrome controlled changes in dormancy and germination of buried weed seeds. Weed Sci. 20:417422.Google Scholar
22. Tester, M. and Morris, C. 1987. The penetration of light through soil. Plant, Cell and Environ. 10:281286.Google Scholar
23. Thompson, K. and Grime, J. P. 1979. Seasonal variation in the seed banks of herbaceous species in ten contrasting habitats. J. Ecol. 67:893898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24. Warwick, M.A., 1984. Buried seeds in arable soils in Scotland. Weed Res. 24:261265.Google Scholar
25. Wesson, G. and Wareing, P. F. 1969. The role of light in the germination of naturally occurring populations of buried weed seeds. J. Exp. Bot. 20:402413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26. Wesson, G. and Wareing, P. F. 1969. The induction of light sensitivity in weed seeds by burial. J. Exp. Bot. 20:414425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27. Wilson, R. G., Kerr, E. D., and Nelson, L. A. 1985. Potential for using weed seed content in the soil to predict future problems. Weed Sci. 33:171175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. Woolley, J. T., Stoller, E. W. 1978. Light penetration and light-induced seed germination in soil. Plant Physiol. 61:597600.Google Scholar