The peculiarity of seeds germination of the common reed Phragmites australis, which is a cosmopolitan plant and widespread at littoral zone of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone water bodies, was studied. The complex of vitality, physiological and morphological indices of seedling as seed germination, germination energy, seedling survivability and seed vitality, length of initial leaf and root and abnormalities of seedlings were investigated. The current average absorbed dose rate on the reed vegetative plants ranged from 0.05 to 34 μGy h-1. Data demonstrated correlation between dose rate and seed progeny vitality. All investigated indices of the common reed's progeny from impacted water bodies significantly differed from reference ones - viability indices were decreased, seedling growth was slower and number of seedling abnormalities were increased. Logistic regressions were found for growth of seedlings initial root and leaf from impacted sites and mostly exponential and linear for reference ones. An essential abnormalities percentage up to 75% was registered for reed seedlings from the impacted sites. Significance of dormancy for improvement of reed seeds germination from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was discussed.
Keywords: Common reed (Phragmites australis); Dormancy; Radioactive contamination; Seeds; Vitality indices.
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