Seed Burial Depth and Soil Water Content Affect Seedling Emergence and Growth of Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa in the Horqin Sandy Land

Jiao Tang, Carlos A. Busso, Deming Jiang, Yongcui Wang, Dafu Wu, Ala Musa, Renhui Miao and Chunping Miao
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Jiao Tang: Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Carlos A. Busso: Departamento de Agronomía-CERZOS (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Andrés 800, Bahía Blanca 8000, Argentina
Deming Jiang: Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Yongcui Wang: Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Dafu Wu: Department of Resource and Environment, Henan Institute of Sciences and Technology, Xinxiang 450003, China
Ala Musa: Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Renhui Miao: Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Chunping Miao: Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: We investigated the effects of seed burial depth and soil water content on seedling emergence and growth of Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa (sandy elm) , an important native tree species distributed over the European-Asian steppe. Experimental sand burial depths in the soil were 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 cm, and soil water contents were 4%, 8%, 12% and 16% of field capacity. All two-way ANOVA (five sand burial depths and four soil water contents) results showed that seed burial depths, soil water content and their interactions significantly affected all the studied plant variables. Most of the times, seedling emergence conditions were greater at the lower sand burial depths (less than 1.0 cm) than at the higher (more than 1.0 cm) seed burial depths, and at the lower water content (less than 12%) than at the higher soil water content. However, high seed burial depths (more than 1.5 cm) or low soil water content (less than 12%) reduced seedling growth or change in the root/shoot biomass ratios. In conclusion, the most suitable range of sand burial was from 0.5 to 1.0 cm soil depth and soil water content was about 12%, respectively, for the processes of seedling emergence and growth. These findings indicate that seeds of the sandy elm should be kept at rather shallow soil depths, and water should be added up to 12% of soil capacity when conducting elm planting and management. Our findings could help to create a more appropriate sandy elm cultivation and understand sparse elm woodland recruitment failures in arid and semi-arid regions.

Keywords: seed burial depth; sandy elm; seed germination; seedling emergence; soil water content (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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