SUBJECT
Methods for seed ecological studies
seminar
master
2
Semester 3
Autumn semester
After a brief theoretical introduction laboratory and field measurments/investigations will be carried out dealing with the early stages in the life of plants from ovules to established seedlings.
In details: Predispersal hazards (seed losses due to pollination failure, seed losses due to predation, etc). Dispersal (dispersal curves, wind dispersal, endozoochory, epizoochory, myrmecochory, etc). Soil seed banks (seed content of soil, seed longevity, ecological significance of seed banks). Dormancy (ecological significance of dormancy, types of dormancy, dormancy breaking). Seedling establishment (germination experiments, internal and external effects influencing germination success, ecologically meaningful germination experiments).
- Csontos P. 2007. Seed banks: ecological definitions and sampling considerations. Community Ecology 8(1): 75-85.
- Fenner, M. & Thompson, K. 2005. The ecology of seeds. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 250 pp. ISBN 0 521 65368 1 paperback, ISBN 0 521 65311 8 hardback.
- Fenner, M. 1985. Seed ecology. Chapman and Hall, London, 151 pp. ISBN 0 412 25930 3