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Estimation of chronological age for sporophyte maturation in three semi‐evergreen ferns in Hokkaido
Author(s) -
Sato Toshiyuki
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/bf02348463
Subject(s) - sporophyte , biology , evergreen , botany , moss
To elucidate the life cycle time schedule of semi‐evergreen ferns at natural sites in Sapporo, the chronological age for sporophyte maturation was estimated from the increase in the number of veins (NV, number of midrib branches) from overwintered to newly expanded leaves. The measurements were conducted on populations of Polystichum braunii, Polystichum tripteron and Dryopteris crassirhizoma at altitudes of 50–650 m on Mt. Teine to compare the interspecific maturation age of sporophytes. The mean age for sporophyte maturation was estimated to be 7.6 yr for P. braunii , 16.5 yr for P. tripteron and 12.6 yr for D. crassirhizoma . The minimum ages (1% fertility rate) for sporophyte maturation of P. braunii, P. tripteron and D. crassirhizoma were 5.8, 11.0 and 7.9 yr, respectively. The maturation age was shortest for P. braunii and longest for P. tripteron . The maturation age of a species thus seems to differ according to altitude and habitat, and that of the present three species seems to be influenced by the geographical location of the species distribution.