Data/hora: 12/06/2024 05:42:56

Biblioteca(s): | Embrapa Florestas.
Data corrente: | 15/09/2008
Data da última atualização: | 15/09/2008
Autoria: | AIRA, M.; PIEARCE, T. G.
Título: | The earthworm Lumbricus terrestris favours the establishment of Lolium perenne seeds over Agrostis capillaris seeds through digestion and burial.
Ano de publicação: | 2008
Fonte/Imprenta: | In: INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON SOIL ZOOLOGY, 15; INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON APTERYGOTA, 12., 2008, Curitiba. Biodiversity, conservation and sustainabele management of soil animal: abstracts. Colombo: Embrapa Florestas. Editors: George Gardner Brown; Klaus Dieter Sautter; Renato Marques; Amarildo Pasini. 1 CD-ROM.
Idioma: | Inglês

Conteúdo:

Seeds have a major role in plant community dynamics determining colonization and growth and
survival of populations. Further, there is a strong competition between seeds to become
established. We studied the effects of anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. on seed
germination and competition between two plant species to understand the mechanisms
underlying earthworm-seed interactions. We set up microcosms with seeds of Lolium perenne
L. (large) and Agrostis capillaries L. (small) with and without earthworms. Moreover, we performed
two burial experiments (with and without earthworms) and a seed digestion experiment.
Earthworms dramatically reduced the numbers of A. capillaris seeds germinating, but did not
modify the number of L. perenne seeds that germinated, although earthworms increased the
biomass of these seedlings. A. capillaris seeds hardly germinated when buried down more than
7 cm opposed to L. perenne seeds germination. Earthworms readily buried A. capillaris seeds
in comparison to L. perenne seeds, and seeds were buried down to a depth of 15 cm. Passage
of seeds through the gut of earthworms had a detrimental effect on A. capillaris seed viability,
while L. perenne seeds remained unaffected. Earthworms? activities can influence the competitive
balance between plant species possibly modifying plant community dynamics. We found that
mechanisms underlying this effect are a combination of seed burial and digestion that strongly
reduced the success of A. capillaris seeds; moreover, earthworms also favouring growth of
seedlings from L. perenne seeds

Categoria do assunto: | --
Registro original: | Embrapa Florestas (CNPF)
Exemplares: | CNPF - (43549-1) - UPE - PL - -- - CD0305 -  -  - DIS