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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2020, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (7): 81-89.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2020031

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Potential allelopathic effects of water extracts of three grasses on germination of their own seeds and seedling growth

LIANG Jun1,2, QUAN Xiao-long1, ZHANG Jie-xue1,2, SHI Hui-lan3, DUAN Zhong-hua1, QIAO You-ming1,*   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China;
    2. College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China;
    3. College of Ecol-Environmental Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
  • Received:2020-01-21 Revised:2020-03-11 Online:2020-07-20 Published:2020-07-20

Abstract: Knowledge of the allelopathic potential of grass species is of great theoretical and practical significance for unraveling the degradation mechanisms in sown perennial pastures in alpine regions. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential allelopathic effects of Elymus nutans, Poa crymophila, and Festuca sinensis. Water extracts were prepared from whole plants and from plant powder of the perennial grass species. The effects of water extract on seed germination and seedling growth were investigated by laboratory bioassay. The whole plant extract of E. nutans significantly reduced the germination rate of E. nutans, P. crymophila and F. sinensis by 10.6, 7.0 and 21.4 percentage points (P<0.05), respectively, compared with the control. Seedling growth of the three grass species was also inhibited by the extract. The whole plant extract of P. crymophila inhibited the root length of E. nutans, P. crymophila and F. sinensis seedlings, the inhibition rates were 41.9%, 61.5% and 32.1%, respectively. The whole plant extract of F. sinensis significantly inhibited the dry weight of P. crymophila and E. nutans seedlings (P<0.05) by 51.2% and 46.4%, respectively. The powder extracts of E. nutans, P. crymophila, and F. sinensis significantly reduced (P<0.05) the germination rate, germination index, seedling height and root length of their own seeds and seedlings and those of other species. The different extracts of the three grasses had autotoxic and allelopathic effects on the germination and seedling growth of their own seeds and the those of other species, and the allelopathic effect of the powder extracts on the three grasses was stronger than that of whole plant extracts. A multivariate evaluation of the allelopathic effects of different extracts of the three grasses on their own seed germination and seedling growth of the other grass species ranked the allelopathic activity in the order: P. crymophila>E. nutans>F. sinensis. It is recommended to consider the inter-species allelopathic effect when establishing mixed seeding pasture in the Tibetan plateau area.

Key words: seeded pasture, seed germination, seedling growth, allelopathic effect