Study of Seed Germination Ecology of Rye Grass (Lolium perenne L.) and goat grass (Aegilops cylindrica Host.)

Abstract

In a series of labrotary and green house experiments the effect of salt and osmotic stress, pH, leaching duration and flooding depth and duration on seed germination of goat grass (Aegilops cylindrica Host.) and rye grass (Lolium perenne L.) was investigated. The experiments were carried out as completely randomized design with three replicates. Results indicated that about 45–55% of freshly harvested goat grass seed were dormant while percentage of rye grass dormant seed was about 20–24. Enhancement of both osmotic and salt stresses significantly reduced seed germination. Both species were fairly tolerant to high water and drought stresses. The pH higher and/or lower than those of 7 significantly reduced germination, while in rye grass germination was limited in pH higher than 7. Long-term flooding for four weeks in all burial depth increased seed germination campare to control treatment. While, short-term flooding and also leaching induced a temporary dormancy in both species. The knowledge obtained from this investigation will increase our information about the germination behavior of goat grass (Aegilops cylindrica Host.) and rye grass (Lolium perenne L.) in different habitate that could be effective for improving management of the plants in agroecosytems.