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Continuous Waterlogging May Not Facilitate Germinability Maintenance of Sphagnum Spores

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Abstract

Burial depth within soil affects the survival of seeds and spores in ecosystems. However, burial depth effect on germinability of Sphagnum spores received little attention. In a peatland in Northeast China, we conducted a spore burial experiment using two hollow dwelling species, Sphagnum squarrosum and S. fallax. We hypothesised that i) S. squarrosum would show lower spore germinability than S. fallax because of its limited distribution in open area and ii) for both species there would be increased spore germinability along burial depth gradient because greater depth provides better conditions for spore preservation. After one-year spore burial, we conducted a laboratory germination bioassay to test spore germinability, determined by germination percentage (GP) and germination index (GI). Spore germinablity of S. squarrosum was >60% lower than S. fallax. Both species showed at least 40% higher germinability when buried in hollows than in hummocks. Overall spore germinability increased with burial depth with maximum germinability at 30 and 20 cm below the surface of hummocks and hollows respectively, where water table fluctuation occurred. We conclude that although hollows are better habitats for spore storage, continuous waterlogging may not be favourable for maintaining high germinability of Sphagnum spores.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2016YFA0602301), the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41571049, No. 41471043 and No. 41601085), the Scientific and Technological Developing Scheme of Jilin Province (No. 20140101163JC), Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Jilin Province and the Open Fund of the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration in Northeast Normal University (No. 130026516) and National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFC0500407). Azim Mallik was partially supported by the Lecture Professor Program of the Northeast Normal University. We thank Xing-Lin Zhang for his help with the experimental materials preparation and Jin-Ze Ma and Jia-Li Ge for field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Rd, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Lu Feng & Yu-Huan Wu

  2. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Institute for Peat and Mire Research, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130024, China

    Lu Feng, Zhao-Jun Bu, Azim Mallik, Zu-Cheng Wang & Sha-Sha Liu

  3. Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory for Wetland Ecological Processes and Environmental Change in the Changbai Mountains, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130024, China

    Lu Feng, Zhao-Jun Bu, Zu-Cheng Wang & Sha-Sha Liu

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lu Feng

  5. Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Azim Mallik

  6. School of Life and Environment Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036, China

    Yu-Huan Wu

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  1. Lu Feng
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  2. Zhao-Jun Bu
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Correspondence to Zhao-Jun Bu or Yu-Huan Wu.

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Feng, L., Bu, ZJ., Mallik, A. et al. Continuous Waterlogging May Not Facilitate Germinability Maintenance of Sphagnum Spores. Wetlands 37, 1015–1022 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0936-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0936-y

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