Effects of watering regime and depth of burial on seedling emergence of four dominant psammophytes in the Mu Us sandy land, Inner Mongolia, China, and relevance to revegetation of a desertified region

M. Q. Zheng, Y. R. Zheng, G. S. Zhou, Y. Z. Wu, P. An, C. C. Baskin, J. M. Baskin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Four dominant psammophyte species are air-seeded in attempts to revegetate the Mu Us sandy land in Inner Mongolia, but seedling emergence is low. This study sought to clarify the behaviour of seedling emergence under different water supply and sand burial regimes to improve the technology of air seeding. Seeds were buried in sand at depths of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3 and 5 cm and supplied one time with 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 40 mm of water or with 2.5 mm once every 3 days for 30 days. Our study showed that a 0.5-cm burial depth and under 10- to 20-mm single-watering regimes resulted in highest seedling emergence percentage and rate of these four species. All emerged seedlings of Caragana korshinskii, Hedysarum laeve and Artemisia ordosica died under 2.5, 5 and 7.5 mm of watering, respectively, but seedling mortality was <50% when the single-watering regime was >10 mm. In the field, germination of the four species increased from the top of the dune to the middle of the leeward side and then to the bottom. Based on precipitation pattern in the Mu Us sandy land, our study indicates that 0.5-cm burial depth and a single-watering regime of >7.5 mm is the threshold condition for seedling emergence.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-96
Number of pages10
JournalAnnals of Applied Biology
Volume154
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2009

Keywords

  • Air seeding
  • Mu Us sandy land
  • Revegetation
  • Seed burial depth
  • Seedling emergence
  • Watering regime

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science

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