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Optimal time of seedling emergence in a dune‐population of Oenothera glazioviana
Author(s) -
Kachi Naoki,
Hirose Tadaki
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/bf02348469
Subject(s) - oenothera , seedling , fecundity , biology , facultative , population , growing season , botany , agronomy , horticulture , demography , sociology
Oenothera glazioviana (= O. Erythrosepala) behaves as a facultative biennial in an infertile sand‐dune system in Japan. In the field, seedlings emerge mainly in autumn following seed ripening in late summer with an additional small peak in spring. The effects of emergence time on subsequent survival and fecundity, and the ultimate numbers of seeds produced per emerging seedling ( F s ) were examined by a demographic model. The model showed that seedlings emerging either in March or in September–October will attain higher F s than those emerging in other months. If mortality in the seed bank is taken into account, autumn seems to be the best season for emergence to maximize the number of seedlings in the next generation.