Yi Xianfeng, Wang Zhenyu, Liu Changqu, Liu Guoqiang, Zhang Mingming
College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China.
College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471003, China.
Sci Rep. 2015 Jan 29;5:8112. doi: 10.1038/srep08112.
Although the consequences of cotyledon removal have been widely studied in oaks producing large acorns, we have little knowledge of at what level cotyledons can be removed without affecting acorn survival and seedling development. In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that the amount of energy reserves in cotyledons is more than the demands of seedlings and that large acorns can tolerate seed predation and/or attract seed predators for seed dispersal. Acorn germination rates were not affected even when 60% of cotyledons were cut off at the basal end, suggesting that the energy reserves contained in cotyledons are not essential for acorn survival. Post-cut acorn mass, more than initial acorn mass, appear to be a better predictor of seedling performance, indicating that the energy reserves in cotyledons are sufficient for seedlings. Acorns with large masses sustained cotyledon damage better than small ones with respect to seedling performance. Large acorns were more likely to be dispersed and cached by animals, implying that producing large acorns is more important for oaks to manipulate seed predators and dispersers rather than provide a seedling with cotyledonary reserves.
尽管在产生大型橡子的橡树中，去除子叶的后果已得到广泛研究，但我们对在不影响橡子存活和幼苗发育的情况下，可以去除子叶的程度知之甚少。在本研究中，我们旨在检验以下假设：子叶中的能量储备量超过幼苗的需求，并且大型橡子能够耐受种子捕食和/或吸引种子捕食者进行种子传播。即使在基部切掉60%的子叶，橡子的发芽率也不受影响，这表明子叶中所含的能量储备对橡子存活并非必不可少。切割后的橡子质量，而非初始橡子质量，似乎是幼苗表现的更好预测指标，这表明子叶中的能量储备对幼苗来说是足够的。就幼苗表现而言，质量大的橡子比小橡子更能承受子叶损伤。大型橡子更有可能被动物传播和贮藏，这意味着产生大型橡子对橡树操纵种子捕食者和传播者更为重要，而不是为幼苗提供子叶储备。
