Study of Factors Affecting Germination in Four Shrub Species with Application to Desert Land Revegetation

摘要

The use in revegetation of barren soils of four shrub species and the factors that may affect their germination were studied. The aim was to facilitate the revegetation and to improve the fertility of desert soils in Africa, increasing the germination rate of seeds of these species. The research project showed in this paper focuses on the revegetation of barren, semi-barren or post-fire soils in the African continent. When these areas spread, their effect on the wild flora and fauna communities is important, altering in an irreversible way the ecosystems they live in. Besides, these areas may be a limiting factor for the development of the human communities, whose economy is based on agriculture and farming. The species studied were Cytisus scoparius, Cytisus, striatus, Cytisus multiflorus (L'Her.) Sweet and Adenocarpus complicatus (L.) Gay. A number of studies on the application of different methods of scarification and temperature alternation to stimulate the germination and to facilitate the breaking of seed coats, even in dormancy seeds, were carried out. The study has shown that thermal or mechanical stimulation increases the germination rate in the seeds of the four species, due to the fact that the heat melts the cover and stops dormancy.