Plant population dynamics in subterranean clover and murex medic swards. I. Size and composition of the seed bank

Abstract

It is possible that the use of harder-seeded varieties of sub. clover (Trifolium subterraneum) and the recently domesticated murex medic (Medicago murex) may improve annual legume persistence in pasture leys. To determine the mechanisms of production and persistence in these two species, the size and composition of the seed bank were compared in four varieties of sub. clover and two lines of murex medic over a three-year period at Forbes in central-west N.S.W. The rate of breakdown of hardseed and the loss of high temperature dormancy was also studied in the same genotypes under conditions of alternating temperature in controlled environment cabinets. In terms of the size of the total seed bank, the sub. clover cultivar with the highest level of hardseed (Dalkeith) was the most successful genotype studied. This was the result of slower rates of hardseed breakdown compared to the other sub. clover cultivars, and better seed production compared to the two murex medic lines. Losses of seed from the seed bank were substantial, and were not all accounted for by germinated seedlings or grazing over summer. The sub. clover cultivars Junee and Seaton Park had the highest levels of high temperature embryo dormancy and the lowest proportion of seedlings germinating over summer. The level of sub. clover hardseed breakdown in the field corresponded well with the 60/15¦C laboratory estimates of hardseed breakdown, even though soil surface temperatures over summer at Forbes were rarely in the range of 60/15¦C.