Determining the dormancy and germination requirements of two upland prairie sedges Carex inops ssp. inops and Carex tumulicola by Kelly Broadlick A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Environmental Horticulture Committee: Dr. Jon Bakker, Chair Dr. Kern Ewing Sierra Smith October 10th, 2016 1 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR ..................................................................................................................................... 6 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ 7 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 8 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................... 9 SPECIES OF INTEREST ............................................................................................................................................... 9 ECOLOGY OF SEDGES .............................................................................................................................................. 11 THE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF GERMINATION ................................................................................................ 12 COMMON SEDGE GERMINATION REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................. 14 EXISTING KNOWLEDGE ON CAREX INOPS SSP. INOPS PROPAGATION ............................................................. 15 EXISTING KNOWLEDGE ON CAREX TUMULICOLA PROPAGATION .................................................................... 16 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................. 16 STRATIFICATION AND GERMINATION EXPERIMENT .............................................................. 17 MATERIALS & METHODS ............................................................................................................................... 17 Seed Lots ................................................................................................................................................................ 17 Experimental Design ........................................................................................................................................ 18 TZ testing ............................................................................................................................................................... 20 Analysis .................................................................................................................................................................. 21 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................................ 25 Germination Percentage ................................................................................................................................. 25 Germination Timing ......................................................................................................................................... 27 Viability .................................................................................................................................................................. 36 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 37 Carex inops ssp. inops ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Carex tumulicola ................................................................................................................................................ 43 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 46 SMOKE WATER EXPERIMENT .......................................................................................................... 47 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................................................... 47 Fire and smoke .................................................................................................................................................... 47 Perigynia removal ............................................................................................................................................. 49 Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 50 MATERIALS & METHODS ............................................................................................................................... 51 Materials ................................................................................................................................................................ 51 Pre-trial to assess smoke water and liquid smoke potency ............................................................. 51 Experimental Design ........................................................................................................................................ 52 Vigor Experimental Set-up ............................................................................................................................ 54 TZ Testing ............................................................................................................................................................. 54 Analyses ................................................................................................................................................................. 54 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................................ 55 Percent Germination ........................................................................................................................................ 55 Germination Timing ......................................................................................................................................... 56 Days to 50% Germination .............................................................................................................................. 60 Uniformity ............................................................................................................................................................. 61 Viability .................................................................................................................................................................. 62 Vigor ........................................................................................................................................................................ 64 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 64 3 Carex inops ssp. inops ...................................................................................................................................... 64 Carex tumulicola ................................................................................................................................................ 71 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 75 PROPAGATION PROTOCOLS ............................................................................................................ 76 CAREX INOPS SSP. INOPS ......................................................................................................................................... 76 CAREX TUMULICOLA ................................................................................................................................................ 78 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 79 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 79 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 81 APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................................. 84 APPENDIX 1. GERMINATION DATA SHEET ......................................................................................................... 84 APPENDIX 2. RESULTS FROM WINTER STRATIFICATION AND GERMINATION TEMPERATURE EXPERIMENT: GERMINATION PERCENTAGE ...................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX 3. RESULTS FROM WINTER STRATIFICATION AND GERMINATION TEMPERATURE EXPERIMENT: UNIFORMITY .................................................................................................................................