TITLE:
Attributes of Naturally Fallen (Rained) Melaleuca quinquenervia Seeds in Two Habitat Types of South Florida Wetlands
AUTHORS:
Min B. Rayamajhi, Paul D. Pratt, Philip W. Tipping, Jorge G. Leidi, F. Allen Dray Jr., Paul T. Madeira, Ted D. Center
KEYWORDS:
Exotic Invasive Tree, Habitat, Seed, Germinability, Viability, Quantity
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.8 No.7,
June
26,
2017
ABSTRACT: Melaleuca
quinquenervia is an
Australian tree
that has
successfully invaded many habitats in Florida. It maintains an aerial seed bank in serotinous
capsular fruits held in
the tree canopies.
These fruits open gradually and shed seeds that fall (rain) throughout the
year. Comparative attributes (quantities and qualities) of these fallen seeds
from different habitats and tree size categories are unknown. We documented
these attributes of fallen M. quinquenervia seeds
for 12 months among three tree size categories from each of the two hydrologically delineated
habitat types. Quantities (8961 seeds m2·mo-1) and
the viability (8.8%) and germinability (8.4%) of fallen melaleuca seeds in the
occasionally inundated habitat were significantly
higher (P =
0.05) than the quantities (6716 seeds m2·mo-1), and
viability (5.6%) and germinability (5.3%) of melaleuca seeds in the permanently
inundated habitat. Although
relatively more seeds rained from larger trees, higher quality seeds were rained from the trees of
smaller dimensions. Smaller trees typically inhabit at the edges of melaleuca
stands and hence they may increase the potential for further spread of seeds into the adjacent areas.