A study of Secale montanum seed response to stress caused by Pb and Cu pollutant elements

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Sari Agricultural Science and Natural Resources University

2 M.Sc. Graduated of Range Management of Sari Agricultural Science and Natural Resources

3 M.Sc. Graduated of Range Management of Sari Agricultural Science and Natural Resources University

Abstract

Due to the use of Secale montanum for different rangelands reclamation across the country, management of these ecosystems need to be aware of its ability to environmental stresses. This research investigated the effect of pollutant element of Cu and Pb on seed germination and growth of this species in laboratory. Therefore, the effect of five treatments (control, 50, 100, 150, 200ppm) of Pb (NO3)2 and CuSo4 on the germination rate and percentage and growth of Secale montanum was studied in triplicate.Germination rate and percentage was calculated and growth rate was obtained by rootlet, shoot, and seedling length measuring. Allometric coefficient and seed vigor was measured too. The results of data analysis of variance and means comparison showed that Pb and Cu elements had no effect on germination rate and percentage but increasing of pb concentration caused to significant decrease in rootlet, shoot, and seedling length. Increasing of Cu element concentration decreased the seed vigor, allometric coefficient, rootlet, shoot, and seedling length significantly. Also, low concentrations of these elements were not a limiting factor for this speciesgrowth.

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