The Influence of Induced Drought Stress on Germination of Cenchrus ciliaris L. and Cenchrus setigerus Vahl.: Implications for Rangeland Restoration in the Arid Desert Environment of Kuwait

Authors

  • Tareq A. Madouh Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Department, Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Shuwaikh, 13109, Kuwait

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v5i1.5426
Received: 23 January 2023 | Received in revised form: 13 March 2023 | Accepted: 17 March 2023 | Published: 22 March 2023

Abstract

Drought impacts in arid desert ecosystems can result in decreased ecosystem productivity and biodiversity. Implementation of restoration projects in arid desert environments is largely dependent on water availability and soil moisture condition. This study investigated the influence of induced drought stress by using polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) solution on germination viz. Cenchrus ciliaris and Cenchrus setigerus as the important rangeland species. The water stress potential treatments were 0 (control), –0.5 MPa, –1.0 MPa, –1.5 MPa, and –2.0 MPa. The extent of seed germination was severely affected by decreased water stress potential. As drought increased, the percentage of germination decreased in both Cenchrus’ species. The water deficit at –0.5 MPa showed a significant (P < 0.001) reduction in the final germination percentage in the case of C. setigerus and C. ciliaris by 65% and 42.5%, respectively. At –1.0 MPa to –1.5 MPa, changes in intermediate germination were observed in C. ciliaris (from 35% to 17.5%, respectively) and C. setigerus (from 22.5% to 11.25% respectively). Higher levels of water stress (–2.0 MPa) prevented the survival of both species. Understanding the germination strategies of native desert plant species associated with drought stress and identifying favorable conditions during the germination process can be useful for restoration practices and rangeland management actions to improve desert ecosystems and maintain biodiversity.

Keywords:

Arid ecosystems; Desert biodiversity; Drought stress; Desert restoration; Water stress potential; Seeds germination ecophysiology; Cenchrus ciliaris and Cenchrus setigerus; Polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000)

References

[1] Madouh, T.A., 2022. Eco-physiological responses of native desert plant species to drought and nutritional levels: Case of Kuwait. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 10, 297. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.785517

[2] Noy-Meir, I., 1973. Desert ecosystems: Environment and producers. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 4, 25-51.

[3] Zhang, X., Zhou, X., Lin, M., et al., 2018. Shufflenet: An extremely efficient convolutional neural network for mobile devices. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. p. 6848-6856. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2018.00716

[4] Kim, J., Choi, J., Choi, C., et al., 2013. Impacts of changes in climate and land use/land cover under IPCC RCP scenarios on stream flow in the Hoeya River Basin, Korea. Science of the Total Environment. 452-453, 181-195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.02.005

[5] DeSantis, C.E., Ma, J., Sauer, G.A., et al., 2017. Breast cancer statistics, racial disparity in mortality by state. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 67(6), 439-448. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21412

[6] Stephenson, N.L., Das, A.J., 2020. Height-related changes in forest composition explain increasing tree mortality with height during an extreme drought. Nature Communications. 11, 3402. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17213-5

[7] Yang, X.D., Anwar, E., Zhou, J., et al., 2022. Higher association and integration among functional traits in small tree than shrub in resisting drought stress in an arid desert. Environmental and Experimental Botany. 201, 104993. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2022.104993

[8] Madouh, T.A., Quoreshi, A.M., 2023.The function of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with drought stress resistance in native plants of arid desert ecosystems: A review. Diversity. 15(3), 391. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030391

[9] Call, C.A., Roundy, B.A., 1991. Perspectives and processes in re-vegetation of arid and semiarid rangelands. Rangeland Ecology & Management/Journal of Range Management Archives. 44(6), 543-549.

[10] Khajeh-Hosseini, M., Powell, A.A., Bingham, I.J., 2003. The interaction between salinity stress and seed vigour during germination of soyabean seeds. Seed Science and Technology. 31(3), 715-725.

[11] Alam, M., Alam, M.M., Curray, J.R., et al., 2003. An overview of the sedimentary geology of the Bengal Basin in relation to the regional tectonic framework and basin-fill history. Sedimentary Geology. 155(3-4), 179-208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(02)00180-X

[12] Almansouri, M., Kinet, J., Lutts, S., 2001. Effect of salt and osmotic stresses on germination in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Plant and Soil. 231(2), 243-254.

[13] Marshall, V.M., Lewis, M.M., Ostendorf, B., 2012. Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) as an invader and threat to biodiversity in arid environments: A review. Journal of Arid Environments. 78, 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.005

[14] Verslues, P.E., Ober, E.S., Sharp, R.E., 1998. Root growth and oxygen relations at low water potentials. Impact of oxygen availability in polyethylene glycol solutions. Plant Physiology. 116(4), 1403-1412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.116.4.1403

[15] Van der Weele, C.M., Spollen, W.G., Sharp, R.E., et al., 2000. Growth of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings under water deficit studied by control of water potential in nutrient‐agar media. Journal of Experimental Botany. 51(350), 1555-1562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jexbot/51.350.1555

[16] Verslues, P.E., Bray, E.A., 2004. LWR1 and LWR2 are required for osmoregulation and osmotic adjustment in arabidopsis. Plant Physiology. 136(1), 2831-2842. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.104.045856

[17] Mohammadkhani, N., Heidari, R., 2008. Water stress induced by polyethylene glycol 6000 and sodium chloride in two maize cultivars. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences. 11(1), 92-97.

[18] KISR, 1999. Soil survey and associated activities for the State of Kuwait—SSK data base [Internet]. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research: Kuwait. Report No. KISR 5462. Available from: http://kdrviewer.kisr.edu.kw/BookViewer/?book_id=8247&keyword=

[19] Climate Change Knowledge Portal (CCKP), 2021. Climatology Database [Internet] [cited 2022 Dec 22]. Available from: https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/kuwait/climate-data-historical

[20] Michel, B.E., Kaufmann, M.R., 1973. The osmotic potential of polyethylene glycol 6000. Plant Physiology. 51(5), 914-916.

[21] McDonald, J.H., 2009. Handbook of biological statistics, 2nd edition. Sparky House Publishing: Baltimore, MD. pp. 6-59.

[22] López, A.S., López, D.R., Arana, M.V., et al., 2021. Germination response to water availability in populations of Festuca pallescens along a Patagonian rainfall gradient based on hydrotime model parameters. Scientific Reports. 11(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89901-1

[23] Fahad, S., Bajwa, A.A., Nazir, U., et al., 2017. Crop production under drought and heat stress: Plant responses and management options. Frontiers in Plant Science. 8, 1147.

[24] Braga, L.F., Sousa, M.P., Braga, J.F., et al., 1999. Effect of substrate water availability on the physiological quality of common bean seeds. Brazilian Seed Magazine. 21(2), 95-102.

[25] Hu, X.W., Fan, Y., Baskin, C.C., et al., 2015. Comparison of the effects of temperature and water potential on seed germination of Fabaceae species from desert and subalpine grassland. American Journal of Botany. 102(5), 649-660.

[26] Ramírez-Tobías, H., Peña-Valdivia, C., Trejo, C., et al., 2014. Seed germination of Agave species as influenced by substrate water potential. Biological Research. 47(1), 1-9.

[27] Tinoco-Ojanguren, C., Reyes-Ortega, I., Sánchez-Coronado, M.E., et al., 2016. Germination of an invasive Cenchrus ciliaris L.(buffel grass) population of the Sonoran Desert under various environmental conditions. South African Journal of Botany. 104, 112-117. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2015.10.009

[28] Watt, L.A., 1982. Germination characteristics of several grass species as affected by limiting water potentials imposed through a cracking black clay soil. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research. 33(2), 223-231.

[29] Hardegree, S.P., Emmerich, W.E., 1990. Partitioning water potential and specific salt effects on seed germination of four grasses. Annals of Botany. 66, 587-595.

[30] López, A.S., Marchelli, P., Batlla, D., et al., 2019. Seed responses to temperature indicate different germination strategies among Festuca pallescens populations from semi-arid environments in North Patagonia. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 272, 81-90.

[31] Madouh, T.A., 2013. Development and utilization of desert forages for sustainable livestock production under Kuwait conditions (FA078C). Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research: Kuwait. Final Report. KISR 11626.

[32] Fisher, M., Ghazanfar, S.A., Chaudhary, S.A., et al., 1998. Diversity and conservation. Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula. Springer: Dordrecht. pp. 265-302. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3637-4_12

[33] Parera, V., Ruiz, M.B., Parera, C.A., 2019. Effect of cold stress at cellular and foliar level and regrowth capacity of three Cenchrus ciliaris L. cultivars: Americana, Biloela and Texas 4464. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. 51(1), 29-39. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/6892

[34] Qadir, I., Khan, Z.H., Khan, R.A., et al., 2011. Evaluating the potential of seed priming techniques in improving germination and early seedling growth of various rangeland grasses. Pakistan Journal of Botany. 43(6), 2797-2800.

[35] Bohning, G., Wilkie, A., 1999. Palatability Scoring of Forage Plants in Central Australia. Technote No. 106. Department Of Primary Industries And Resources [Internet]. Northern Territory. Available from: https://dpir.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/233444/tn106.pdf

[36] Skerman, P.J., Riveros, F., 1990. Tropical grasses (No.23). Food and Agriculture Organization: Rome.

[37] Buffel and Birdwood Grasses (Cenchrus ciliaris and Cenchrus setiger) in the Western Australian Rangelands [Internet]. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Government of Western Australia [cited 2022 Dec 25]. Available from: https://www.agric.wa.gov.au.

[38] Siller-Clavel, P., Badano, E.I., Villarreal-Guerrero, F., et al., 2022. Distribution patterns of invasive buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris) in Mexico estimated with climate niche models under the current and future climate. Plants. 11(9), 1160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11091160

[39] Ehrenfeld, J.G., 2010. Ecosystem consequences of biological invasions. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 41, 59-80.

[40] Olsson, A.D., Betancourt, J.L., Crimmins, M.A., et al., 2012. Constancy of local spread rates for buffel grass (Pennisetum ciliare L.) in the Arizona Upland of the Sonoran Desert. Journal of Arid Environments. 87, 136-143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.06.005

[41] Brenner, J., Kanda, L.L., 2013. Buffel grass (Pennisetum ciliare) invades lands surrounding cultivated pastures in Sonora, Mexico. Invasive Plant Science and Management. 6(1), 187-195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1614/IPSM-D-12-00047.1

[42] Ward, J.P., Smith, S.E., McClaran, M.P., 2006. Water requirements for emergence of buffel grass (Pennisetum ciliare). Weed Science. 54, 720-725.

[43] Briedé, J.W., McKell, C.M., 1992. Germination of seven perennial arid land species, subjected to soil moisture stress. Journal of Arid Environments. 23(3), 263-270.

Downloads

How to Cite

Madouh, T. A. (2023). The Influence of Induced Drought Stress on Germination of Cenchrus ciliaris L. and Cenchrus setigerus Vahl.: Implications for Rangeland Restoration in the Arid Desert Environment of Kuwait. Research in Ecology, 5(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v5i1.5426

Issue

Article Type

Articles