Pérez Héctor E, Tyler Tia, Kane Michael E
Environmental Horticulture Department, University of Florida, 2047 IFAS Research Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States.
Environmental Horticulture Department, University of Florida, 2043 IFAS Research Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States.
AoB Plants. 2025 Apr 12;17(4):plaf021. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plaf021. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Coastal dunes represent globally important ecosystems heavily impacted by human activities and requiring nature-based restoration solutions. Plants with dune building and stabilizing traits typically represent the dominant vegetation. Such species can have ranges extending >1000 km albeit in fragmented populations. Seeds of dominant species are in high demand for establishing dune restoration planting material, but supply may be limited given variable seed production across their range. The broad geographic occurrence of such species presents opportunities to question the influence of various abiotic and biotic gradients on seed production while providing answers that can inform seed-based restoration efforts. We modelled seed production of over a 2-year period from 17 populations spread over 12° of latitude (ca. 1357 km). Panicle density and dune type were strong predictors of normal seed production and number of seeds per spikelet. Interactions between eco-spatial zonation or haplotype and collection year were evident regarding the number of seeds per spikelets, but the effects were mostly negligible. Likewise, latitude and drought intensity yielded small-to-medium effects on the number of seeds per spikelet. The proportion of abnormal seeds was not unusual for wild species, and panicle density was not a strong predictor of this response. We hypothesize that a threshold panicle density exists below which seed production decreases substantially. Practitioners should assess relative panicle density at donor sites when creating seed collection plans and may consider sites with low panicle density as priority augmentation targets.
沿海沙丘是全球重要的生态系统，受到人类活动的严重影响，需要基于自然的恢复解决方案。具有沙丘建造和稳定特性的植物通常是优势植被。尽管这些物种的种群分布零散，但其分布范围可能超过1000公里。优势物种的种子对于建立沙丘恢复种植材料的需求很大，但由于其分布范围内种子产量的变化，种子供应可能有限。这些物种广泛的地理分布提供了机会来探讨各种非生物和生物梯度对种子产量的影响，同时提供可为基于种子的恢复工作提供信息的答案。我们对分布在12°纬度（约1357公里）范围内的17个种群在两年时间内的种子产量进行了建模。圆锥花序密度和沙丘类型是正常种子产量和每个小穗种子数的有力预测指标。关于每个小穗的种子数，生态空间分区或单倍型与采集年份之间的相互作用很明显，但影响大多可以忽略不计。同样，纬度和干旱强度对每个小穗的种子数有中等到较小的影响。野生植物中异常种子的比例并不罕见，圆锥花序密度不是这种反应的有力预测指标。我们假设存在一个圆锥花序密度阈值，低于该阈值种子产量会大幅下降。从业者在制定种子采集计划时应评估供体地点的相对圆锥花序密度，并可将圆锥花序密度低的地点视为优先增加目标。
