Germinația semințelor de molid pe substraturi cu diferite nivele de fitotoxicitate: un studiu de caz pentru exploatarea Călimani [Germination of Norway spruce seeds on substrates with different levels of toxicity: a case study for the Călimani dump]

Abstract

The knowledge of the particularities of seeds germination on different substrat types is important, especially from the point of vue of ecological restoration, e.g. of the dumps. The paper presents the results of the Norway spruce seeds germination on different substrates (10 variants: 9 + Control) from an area of a surface mining sulfur (Călimani) from the North of Eastern Carpathians. The germination tests indicated, in an expected way, that the only substrate which significantly influence the germination (at 7, 10 and 15 days, respectively) was the sulphur, in case of the other the differences being non-significant. The minimum beard length values were recorded on sulphur substrate, while the best on the ‘forest soil’ variant. The germination threshold (2 mm) was reached after 3-5 days, and the phytotoxicity effect was observed after 10 days. Regarding the time length of the germination phase, the most favourable (shortest) was the ‘Hummus’ variant. The correlation analysis indicated that if the germination period is short, then the other phases will be prolonged, with larger percent of germination and relative beard length. In an expected way, the fatal effect of the ‘Sulphur’ substrate is different than all the others, starting with the 11th day of germination. Based on the obtained results, for the area were delineated three domains of relative toxicity: A - toxic (without life conditions), B - neutral (inhibition of the physiological processes) and C - favourable (proper for a plant development), which were mapped for further practical use.

Keywords

• phytotoxicity
• seeds
• germination
• Norway spruce
• sulphur exploitation