• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.295-305
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• 2011

Many studies have suggested the positive effects of grazing by large herbivorous mammals on seed dispersal, but little is known about how herbivores could affect the fate of ingested seeds. This study examined the effects of seed ingestion by sika deer (Cervus nippon) on seed fate in a temperate grassland established in an urban park long resided by high densities of sika deer. I compared species composition and seasonal traits of seed abundance and maturity in the grassland community with those in deer fecal pellets. In total, 27 herbaceous species were observed, including the predominant Zoysia japonica. Seed phenology and production differed among the three dominant species (Z. japonica, Digitaria violascens, and Hydrocotyle maritima). Pellets contained at least 26 species of herbaceous seeds, and their abundance differed among species. Of the 26 species, 15 were observed in the vegetation at the study site. The peak of seed abundance in pellets for the dominant species appeared 1 month after the peak of inflorescence production (but most of the inflorescences were immature and susceptible to digestion) and consequently corresponded to the peak of mature inflorescence. Because sika deer are likely to ingest seeds at any maturity stage in the grassland and immature seeds are less hardened, ingested immature seeds can suffer great losses. The results suggested that the survival of germable seeds with great losses of immature seeds may be a factor determining which plant species can be successfully dispersed by herbivores.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.277-281
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• 2001

Embryogenic callus induction and plant regeneration methods were developed for native Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratenes L.) ecotypes. Mature caryopses and immature inflorescences (20 mm in length) of 4 native ecotypes and 5 foreign cultivars were plated on MS medium (30 g/L sucrose, 3 g/L Phytagel) supplemented with 1 mg/L 2,4-D, and cultured in the dark at 24$^{\circ}C$. Most explants formed calli, but more embryogenic calli were induced from the explants of immature inflorescences than caryopses which produced mostly non-embryogenic rooty calli. In P77 ecotypes, immature inflorescence explants formed embryogenic calli with the rate of 62~95%, and those of field-grown plants were more efficient than greenhouse-grown ones in embryogenic callus induction. Plantlets were regenerated from the embryogenic calli when they were transferred to hormone-free MS medium, and grew to maturity without morphological variations in greenhouse.