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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2024, Vol. 16 Issue (12): 1744-1759    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-024-0065-4    
Research article     
Seed germination response of the invasive Haloxylon persicum in Tunisia
Hanen FARHAT, Khouloud KRICHEN*(), Khouloud ZAGOUB, Mohamed CHAIEB
Laboratory of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Arid Environments (LEBIOMAT), Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia
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Abstract  

Biological invasion represents a major worldwide threat to native biodiversity and environmental stability. Haloxylon persicum was introduced to Tunisia (North Africa) with Saharan bioclimate in 1969 to fix sandy dunes. Since then, it has gained significant interest for its potential to colonize, proliferate, and become naturalized in Tunisia. Hence, understanding the seed germination response of H. persicum to abiotic conditions, including temperature, water stress, and salt stress, is crucial for predicting its future spread and adopting effective control strategies. Our work investigated the germination behavior of this invasive plant species by incubation at temperatures from 10.0°C to 35.0°C and at various osmotic potentials (-2.00, -1.60, -1.00, -0.50, and 0.00 MPa) of polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG6000, indicating water stress) and sodium chloride (NaCl, indicating salt stress) solutions. Results showed remarkable correlations among the seed functional traits of H. persicum, indicating adaptive responses to local environmental constraints. The maximum germination rate was recorded at 25.0°C with a rate of 0.39/d. Using the thermal time model, the base temperature was recorded at 8.4°C, the optimal temperature was 25.5°C, and the ceiling temperature was found at 58.3°C. Besides, based on the hydrotime model, the base water potential showed lower values of -7.74 and -10.90 MPa at the optimal temperatures of 25.0°C and 30.0°C, respectively. Also, the species was found to have excellent tolerance to drought (water stress) compared to salt stress, which has implications for its potential growth into new habitats under climate change. Combining ecological and physiological approaches, this work elucidates the invasive potential of H. persicum and contributes to the protection of species distribution in Tunisian ecosystems.

Key words： Haloxylon persicum      seed germination      osmotic potentials      seed functional traits      hydrotime model      thermal time model      Tunisian Saharan bioclimate     
Received: 04 July 2024      Published: 31 December 2024
Corresponding Authors: *Khouloud KRICHEN (kh.krichen@gmail.com)
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Hanen FARHAT
Khouloud KRICHEN
Khouloud ZAGOUB
Mohamed CHAIEB
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Hanen FARHAT, Khouloud KRICHEN, Khouloud ZAGOUB, Mohamed CHAIEB. Seed germination response of the invasive Haloxylon persicum in Tunisia. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(12): 1744-1759.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-024-0065-4     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2024/V16/I12/1744

Seed functional trait Mean±SE Coefficient of variation (%)
Thousand seed weight (g) 3.15±0.00 0.95
Percentage of embryoless seeds (%) 22.51±1.68 45.50
Embryo viability (%) 74.33±0.00 15.71
Seed diameter (mm) 2.00±0.00 0.20
Seed area (mm2) 3.14±0.07 0.02
Seed water content (%) 14.76±0.06 0.03
Seed shape Round
Seed color Brownish grey
Embryo form Spirally twisted
Table 1 Seed functional traits of Haloxylon persicum
Fig. 1 Germination percentage of Haloxylon persicum at different temperatures. Each point represents the mean of replicates of 50 seeds. Bars mean standard deviations.
Temperature (°C) Final germination percentage (%) Initial germination time (d) Final germination
time (d)		 Mean germination time (d)
10.0 33.00±2.42b 12.00±0.41a 20.00±0.41c 9.36±0.85a
15.0 48.00±3.04c 6.00±1.26c 13.00±0.41b 13.18±0.56b
20.0 72.00±1.17a 2.00±0.00a 15.00±1.51b 10.25±0.24a
25.0 80.00±0.09a 1.50±0.54a 14.00±0.99a 10.14±0.55a
30.0 51.00±1.63b 2.00±0.00b 10.00±1.22b 10.35±0.56a
35.0 50.00±1.26b 2.00 ±0.00b 11.00±0.75c 10.73±0.22b
Table 2 Seed germination parameters of H. persicum at different temperatures
Fig. 2 Effect of osmotic potentials of PEG6000 (polyethylene glycol-6000; a) and NaCl (sodium chloride; b) on the seed germination of H. persicum. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences of final germination percentage at P<0.05 level. Bars mean standard deviations.
Salt stress Water stress
Temperature NaCl Temperature×NaCl Temperature PEG6000 Temperature×PEG6000
df 1.39 2.24 2.68 2.15 1.16 3.96
F statistic 1571.77 153.93 44.62 909.27 255.09 26.58
P-value <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001
Table 3 Effects of PEG6000 (polyethylene glycol-6000) and NaCl (sodium chloride) and their interactions with temperature on the final germination percentage of H. persicum based on the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Temperature
(°C)		 Water stress Salt stress
Ψb(50) (MPa) θH (MPa•d) σΨb(g) (MPa) R2 Ψb(50) (MPa) θH (MPa•d) σΨb(g) (MPa) R2
15.0 -4.14 37.71 1.26 0.76 -3.61 14.50 2.07 0.71
20.0 -7.08 29.60 3.97 0.61 -7.03 25.84 4.02 0.61
25.0 -7.74 22.86 4.75 0.57 -4.66 21.09 2.48 0.48
30.0 -10.90 47.06 5.63 0.63 -6.66 20.30 3.47 0.60
Table 4 Estimated hydrotime model parameters describing the seed germination of H. persicum at different temperatures under the water stress (PEG6000 solutions) and salt stress (NaCl solutions) treatments
Fig. 3 Relationship between the probit germination model of H. persicum and σΨb(g) at different osmotic potentials of PEG6000 (a-d) and NaCl (e-h) solutions at different temperatures (15.0°C, 20.0°C, 25.0°C and 30.0°C). σΨb(g), standard deviation of the base water potential defined at a specific germination percentage.
Fig. 4 Heat map correlation between seed germination parameters and seed functional traits of H. persicum at 25.0°C
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