Open AccessThe Poa bulbosa L. Reproductive Strategy in the Steppe Phytocenoses of the Lower Volga Region
Author(s) -
Elmira I. Kaybeleva,
Ekaterina A. Arkhipova,
O. I. Yudakova,
М. Yu. Voronin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
izvestiâ saratovskogo universiteta. novaâ seriâ. seriâ himiâ. biologiâ. èkologiâ
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2541-8971
pISSN - 1816-9775
DOI - 10.18500/1816-9775-2020-20-4-395-403
Subject(s) - biology , steppe , herbarium , inflorescence , apomixis , reproduction , flora (microbiology) , arid , agronomy , facultative , sexual reproduction , botany , ecology , ploidy , biochemistry , genetics , bacteria , gene
Poa bulbosa L. is a native cereal of the European and Mediterranean flora and an invasive species in North America. The study of its reproductive strategy in different environmental and climatic conditions is important for the development of effective methods of containment and prevention of invasions. Plants of two coenopopulations were investigated embryologically. In addition, the morphology of reproductive organs was analyzed in 175 herbarium specimens collected in the flora of the Lower Volga region from 1919 to 2017. It was found that in the steppe phytocenoses of the Lower Volga region P. bulbosa reproduce mainly vegetatively by basal bulbs and pseudoviviparous bulblets. Rarely, seed mode reproduction in the form of facultative apomixis is realized. There was no dependence of the mode of reproduction (pseudovivipary / seed reproduction) on the date of growing season beginning and on the average temperature in the period from the beginning of the growing season to flowering. The effectiveness of pseudovivipary is low due to the aridity of the Lower Volga region climate. Bulblets germinate in inflorescences and then dry. This holds back the P. bulbosa wider distribution in the studied region.