Article
Plant Sciences
Jason C. S. Chan, Mark K. J. Ooi, Lydia K. Guja
Summary: Ploidy and species range size or threat status are associated with variation in seed and seedling traits, but their ecological outcomes are not well understood. The study found that polyploids have larger seeds, faster germination rates, and larger and taller seedlings compared to diploids. However, there is no clear relationship between range size and seed or seedling traits. These findings suggest that polyploids have a competitive advantage during the regeneration phase in fire-prone environments.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zuxin Zhang, Xinping Luo, Dali Chen, Lijun Chen, Xiaowen Hu
Summary: Seed germination is crucial for seedling establishment, but its relationship with natural seedling emergence is complex and may vary depending on environmental conditions. Seed source selection should consider both germination traits and offspring growing conditions.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jay Ram Lamichhane, Carla Varaillas, Philippe Debaeke
Summary: Diversifying and intensifying cropping systems, such as wheat-soybean relay cropping, can benefit farm profitability and reduce negative environmental impacts of agriculture. However, this practice is not widely adopted by French and European farmers. This study investigated the early growth traits and biomass production of seven soybean cultivars in wheat-soybean relay cropping. Water stress and pigeon damage were found to be the most important factors affecting soybean establishment under different cropping systems.
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Galina Smolikova, Sergei Medvedev
Summary: The transition from seed to seedling is a crucial stage in the life cycle of plants, involving tissue hydration, mobilization of nutrients, and activation of metabolic activity in seeds. This process requires extensive reprogramming of genetic, epigenetic, and hormonal switches, leading to the activation of vegetative growth genes and silencing of seed maturation genes.
Article
Agronomy
Lei Chu, Yiping Gao, Lingling Chen, Patrick E. McCullough, David Jespersen, Suraj Sapkota, Muthukumar Bagavathiannan, Jialin Yu
Summary: The key factors for successful germination and emergence of white clover are light, temperature, planting depth, drought, and salt stress. White clover seeds are negatively photoblastic and show differential responses to temperature. Deeper planting depth leads to lower germination rate, and the optimal depth is <= 1 cm. White clover seeds are highly sensitive to drought and salt stress. These findings provide a foundation for achieving successful establishment of white clover stands.
Article
Ecology
Russell G. Miller, Joseph B. Fontaine, David J. Merritt, Ben P. Miller, Neal J. Enright
Summary: Global increase in unseasonal fires is threatening postfire seedling recruitment due to impacts on seed persistence and seedling establishment. Experimental evidence shows up to 99% reduction in seedling recruitment following unseasonal fires compared to seasonal fires, highlighting the vulnerability of plant regeneration to changing fire seasons.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jin Xie, Yao Li, Gaoqian Jiang, Hongyong Sun, Xiaojing Liu, Lipu Han
Summary: This study investigated the effect of seed color on the germination and growth of alfalfa under salt stress. The results showed that brown seeds had significantly lower germination and seedling performance compared to green and yellow seeds. Yellow seeds exhibited higher vigor. Factors such as water uptake rate and hormone content may have contributed to the differences in stress resistance among seed colors.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Si-Chong Chen, Xiao-Wen Hu, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin
Summary: This study demonstrates that there is no trade-off between seed persistence and seedling emergence from the soil seed bank. Physically dormant seeds are more persistent but exhibit lower emergence. Monocarpic species have both higher persistence and emergence than polycarpic species. Seed mass has a marginal effect on persistence, while emergence increases nearly twofold from the smallest to the largest seeds.
Article
Plant Sciences
Silvia Del Vecchio, Shivam Kumar Sharma, Mario Pavan, Alicia Teresa Rosario Acosta, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Francesco de Bello, Maike Isermann, Richard Michalet, Gabriella Buffa
Summary: Variability in seed traits can be significant both within and among populations, and may be difficult to predict. Considering seed trait variability in the analysis of ecological processes may help elucidate patterns of species dynamics.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Cengiz Yucedag, Mehmet Cetin, Halil Baris Ozel, Adel Easa Saad Abo Aisha, Osama B. Muragaa Alrabiti, Akram Mohamed Omar AL.JAMA
Summary: The study demonstrated that seeds from higher altitudes of Syrian juniper have higher germination rates, and specific pretreatments can more than double the germination potential.
ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Tao Luo, Ziwei Sheng, Chunni Zhang, Qin Li, Xiaoyan Liu, Zhaojie Qu, Zhenghua Xu
Summary: This study analyzed the performance of rapeseed genotypes in germination and emergence-related functional traits under low-temperature stress and found that there is rich genotypic diversity in response to low-temperature stress. Variation in seed characteristics also affects low-temperature tolerance, and the comprehensive low-temperature stress tolerance index can effectively evaluate rapeseed's tolerance to low temperature.
Article
Plant Sciences
Hyeong Bin Park, Jiae An, Kee-Hwa Bae, Seung Hyo Hong, Hwan Joon Park, Seongjun Kim, Chang Woo Lee, Byoung-Doo Lee, Ju Hyoung Baek, Nam Young Kim, Jung Eun Hwang
Summary: This study aimed to develop an effective in vitro propagation system for C. guttatum to aid in its conservation. The results of this study show that sterilization, appropriate light, and optimal NAA concentrations are beneficial for seed germination.
Article
Agronomy
M. Rezvani, S. Nadimi, F. Zaefarian, B. S. Chauhan
Summary: The study investigated the germination responses of three Phalaris species to various environmental conditions, finding that temperature, light, drought, salt stress, pH levels, and planting depth all affected seed germination. Phalaris minor demonstrated a wider range of germination under different conditions compared to P. paradoxa and P. brachystachys, which may explain its wider distribution in cropping systems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Deepanjan Mridha, Ishita Paul, Ayan De, Iravati Ray, Antara Das, Madhurima Joardar, Nilanjana Roy Chowdhury, Pratap Bhanu Singh Bhadoria, Tarit Roychowdhury
Summary: The intolerable levels of arsenic in groundwater in the Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra plain has negative impacts on rice production. Priming seeds with K-humate can improve seed germination and plant growth under arsenic stress, increasing vigour index and reducing oxidative stress markers.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Hongli Zeng, Minghao Liu, Xin Wang, Ling Liu, Huiyi Wu, Xuan Chen, Haodong Wang, Quansheng Shen, Guanghui Chen, Yue Wang
Summary: This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of exogenous melatonin on the germination and physiological characteristics of rice seeds under flooding conditions. The results showed that the administration of 100 μM melatonin significantly improved seed germination and growth, and alleviated the damage caused by flooding stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity and reducing malondialdehyde content. Furthermore, flooding stress treatment and melatonin treatment had a more significant effect on rice seed germination, with the optimal number of days to resist flooding stress being two and the optimal melatonin concentration for seed soaking being 100 μM.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Margot Neyret, Anneke de Rouw, Nathalie Colbach, Henri Robain, Bounsamay Soulileuth, Christian Valentin
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2020)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Nathalie Colbach, Bruno Chauvel, Antoine Messean, Jean Villerd, Christian Bockstaller
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Olivia Pointurier, Delphine Moreau, Loic Pages, Jacques Caneill, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: The study aimed to develop a model that simulates heterogeneous 3D individual-based crop-weed canopies to design complex agroecological cropping systems. By connecting a root system model and a weed dynamics model, researchers accurately predicted long-term weed dynamics and analyzed the competitive potential and parasitic infection effects on plant communities. The approach not only focused on crop-weed competition, but also has potential applications in designing other heterogeneous canopies, such as crop mixtures.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Floriane Colas, Jean-Pierre Gauchi, Jean Villerd, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: The study presents a step-by-step methodology to accelerate complex biological models, focusing on the mechanistic model FLORSYS. By identifying and metamodeling the slowest submodel of FLORSYS and replacing it with more efficient models, the study successfully increased the speed of the model by 28 times without compromising prediction quality.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Olivia Pointurier, Stephanie Gibot-Leclerc, Delphine Moreau, Carole Reibel, Eric Vieren, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: The study developed a broomrape-dynamics model, predicting the dynamics of broomrape seed bank, the impact of parasitism on crops and weeds, and the dynamics of crops and weeds in agroecosystems, to design management strategies aiming at long-term control of broomrape with multiple techniques. This model, PHERASYS, can simulate complex heterogeneous canopies and test management strategies, including crop mixtures and biological regulations by weeds.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Delphine Moreau, Olivia Pointurier, Laurene Perthame, Nicolas Beaudoin, Jean Villerd, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: The study aimed to integrate competition for nitrogen among plants into the existing FLORSYS model to better understand the functioning of heterogeneous canopies in nitrogen-deficient situations. By simulating plant nitrogen uptake and the impact of nitrogen stress on plant photosynthesis, biomass allocation, and morphology, the study provided a predictive mechanism to explain crop-weed interactions.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Olivia Pointurier, Stephanie Gibot-Leclerc, Delphine Moreau, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: The study utilized the dynamic model PHERASYS to evaluate management strategies for long-term control of branched broomrape, showing that delayed sowing combined with trap and catch crops is effective in reducing infestation and yield losses. Tolerating temporary and/or low-density weeds in cropping systems may improve broomrape management.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2021)
Review
Agronomy
Ines Mahe, Bruno Chauvel, Nathalie Colbach, Stephane Cordeau, Aurelie Gfeller, Antje Reiss, Delphine Moreau
Summary: The impacts of weed management and herbicide use need to be reduced, and weed-suppressive crop species/varieties show promise for sustainable weed regulation. This study reviews the literature to find field-based evidence of the role of allelopathy by root exudation of living crops in weed regulation, independently of competition. The analysis highlights the disregard for crop competition in most studies, and the lack of convincing evidence for the presence/absence of allelopathy in the field. Recommendations are made for future research to further investigate allelopathy and quantify its contribution to weed regulation.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Laurene Perthame, Nathalie Colbach, Hugues Busset, Annick Matejicek, Delphine Moreau
Summary: Reducing herbicide use may increase weed competition with crops for resources. This study found that nitrogen stress can alter the morphological traits of plants, affecting their light competitiveness. There are also differences in the response of weeds and crops to nitrogen stress, indicating variations in their competitive abilities.
Article
Plant Sciences
Nathalie Colbach, Emeline Felten, Christelle Gee, Antony Klein, Laura Lannuzel, Christophe Lecomte, Thibault Maillot, Florence Strbik, Jean Villerd, Delphine Moreau
Summary: By conducting virtual experiments and using a simulation model, this study identified key parameters that affect pea yield and weed control, and proposed rules to guide farmers in choosing the best pea variety. It was also found that a trade-off between increasing yield potential and minimizing yield losses due to weeds exists when selecting pea varieties and management strategies.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Delphine Moreau, Hugues Busset, Annick Matejicek, Marion Prudent, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: This study aims to develop an innovative approach to quantify weed species responses to water limitation. The most notable responses in different weed species and growth stages were increased plant height and the production of smaller/thicker leaves. Furthermore, an increase in biomass allocation to roots and leaves was observed in some species and growth stages.
Article
Agronomy
Laurene Perthame, Sandrine Petit, Nathalie Colbach
Summary: This study investigates the impact of different factors on weed seed predation by carabid beetles and evaluates the importance of including seed predation in predicting weed dynamics in different cropping systems. The simulations show that factors such as daily incident radiation, light interception, harvest, carabid reproduction, and temperature have the most influence on seed predation rates. Including seed predation in the simulations improves the prediction quality of the model, reducing overestimation in weed variable predictions. Weed seed predation by carabids can contribute to managing weeds and improving crop yields, but the effectiveness varies among different crops.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2023)
Letter
Plant Sciences
Nathalie Colbach, Guillaume Adeux, Stephane Cordeau, Delphine Moreau
TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Nathalie Colbach, Stephane Cordeau
Summary: Conservation agriculture allows farmers to reduce costs and enhance soil health, but it can lead to increased weed infestation and crop yield loss. This study investigated the impact of tillage on weed infestation and yield loss, and identified which systems and weed species are most affected by tillage suppression. The findings suggest that diverse crop rotations and cover cropping are essential for managing weeds while reducing tillage and herbicide use.
FRONTIERS IN AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Nathalie Colbach, Floriane Colas, Stephane Cordeau, Thibault Maillot, Wilfried Queyrel, Jean Villerd, Delphine Moreau
Summary: Crop diversification is essential for agroecological pest management, and FLORSYS model is a valuable tool to investigate crop-weed interactions, synthesize existing knowledge, and transfer research-based knowledge into cropping-system design.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2021)