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Seed Germination Percentage Increases with Population Size in a Fragmented Prairie Species
Author(s) -
MENGES ERIC S.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1523-1739.1991.tb00120.x
Subject(s) - germination , biology , inbreeding depression , population , small population size , perennial plant , population size , population fragmentation , habitat fragmentation , habitat , botany , agronomy , ecology , inbreeding , demography , sociology
Laboratoty germination percentages were relatively low in small populations of royal catchfly (Silene regia), a perennial prairie plant whose distribution has been severely reduced by habitat fragmentation. Populations with more than 150 individuals bad uniformly high (>85%) germination, whereas smaller populations had great variation within and between populations. Germination percentage was related to the natural log of population size (r = .49, p = .017); in small populations the relationship was linear (r = .37, p = .156). Germination success was unrelated to population isolation. The overall dependence of germination percentage on population size has at least two possible explanations: (I) inbreeding depression in recently reduced populations, manifesting itself in lower fitness of seeds; or (2) increased proportion of inferior geitonogamously produced seed caused by reduced hummingbird visitation and reduced interplant movements in small populations.