Abstract:

Acorns of Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata Maxim. are often predated by small mammals and birds in natural forests. These animals not only eat the acorns during the acorn ripening season, but also cache and hoard most of the remaining acorns on the forest floor in the soil for their future use. These buried acorns form the main seed resource for regeneration. Burying depth is potentially important for germination and for seedling development. The effects of burying depth on germination and seedling development in relation to acorn size were studied in an experiment, in which acorns were planted at 6 cm-, 12 cm- and 18 cm-depth. The experimental results showed that fewer acorns germinated as burying depth increased. From the deeply buried acorns fewer seedlings emerged at later time than from those acorns buried less deeply. They appeared to have more difficulties to emerge above-ground than the seedlings from shallowly buried acorns. The deeply buried acorns and their seedlings also appeared to be more susceptible to rot. Acorn size did not significantly affect germination and emergence of the seedlings. As early emerged seedlings had longer developmental periods in their first growing season, and therefore grew better than the late emerged seedlings, seedlings from the shallowly buried acorns took the advantage.

锐齿槲栎橡子埋藏深度对发芽、幼苗出土和发育的影响
郭柯^1,3 李睿^2,3 Marinus J.A.WERCER ³

（1.中国科学院植物研究所，北京100093；2. 浙江大学地球科学系，杭州310028；3.Department of Plant Ecology,Utrecht Unixersity,Utrecht,The Netherlands)

摘要：锐齿槲栎 (Quercusalienavar.acuteserrata Maxim .)林内活动的许多小型哺乳动物和鸟类不仅采食橡子 ,而且还常窖贮或在土壤中埋藏大量的橡子以便季后利用。这些埋藏的橡子构成了发育有效更新苗的主要种子来源。橡子被埋藏的深度和橡子的大小对幼苗的发育有潜在的影响。把橡子埋藏在 6、12和 18cm 3个土层深度中的实验结果显示 :随着埋藏深度的增加 ,橡子的发芽率和发芽橡子的幼苗出土率都有明显下降 ;由深埋橡子发育的幼苗出土比较困难 ,所需时间较长 ,也更易腐烂 ;橡子的大小对发芽和幼苗出土没有明显的影响 ;早出土幼苗在第一个生长季内由于有较长的生长发育期 ,季末发育得较好 ,所以 ,由浅埋橡子发育的幼苗在更新成功方面有优势。

关键词： 橡子埋藏深度；橡子大小；贮藏囤积；动物觅食；树种立苗

Key words: acorn burying depth, acorn size, cache and hoard, animal predation, seedling establishment