Riner 2018 talk melnhe

1. Quantifying red maple seed
production and viability in
nutrient manipulated stands
Donna Riner 2018
Mentors: Adam Wild, Alex Young, Alex Rice, Ruth Yanai

2. Question:
Is red maple seed mass and viability dependent
on nutrient abundance?
Source: WikiMedia

3. Significance
•Seeds contain the
genetic material of the
next generation.
•Seedlings emerging
from heavier seeds
show better growth
(Upadhaya et al, 2006).

4. Methods
• Placed seed traps
beneath red maples in
three mid-aged stands
(40-43 years old)
• Collected seeds
• Tested viability
• Squeezed the seed: is
there a seed in there?
• Counted and weighed
the unviable and viable
seeds.
“A better seed and litter trap”
Hughes, Fahey, and Browne 1987

5. Results: Seed Count
Avg Seed
Count
DF F
Value
P value
BA_m2 7 98.48 <0.0001
N trt 7 1.27 0.30
P trt 7 0.62 0.46
N trt * P trt 7 1.61 0.24
ANCOVA of seed count
with basal area as a
covariate revealed no
significant effects

6. Results: Seed Viability
Avg Viable
Seed Count
DF F Value P value
BA_m2 7 112.01 <0.0001
N trt 7 0.44 0.53
P trt 7 0.13 0.73
N trt * P trt 7 0.94 0.36
ANCOVA of viable seed
count with basal area
as a covariate revealed
no significant effects

7. Results: Average Seed Mass
ANCOVA of average seed
mass with basal area as a
covariate revealed a
significant N*P treatment
Avg Seed
Mass (mg)
DF F Value P value
BA_m2 7 105.75 <0.0001
N trt 7 1.85 0.22
P trt 7 0.37 0.56
N trt * P trt 7 3.49 0.10

8. Avg Viable
Mass
DF F Value P value
BA_m2 7 109.62 <0.0001
N trt 7 1.75 0.23
P trt 7 0.36 0.57
N trt * P trt 7 3.21 0.12
Results: Average Viable Mass
ANCOVA of average viable
mass with basal area as a
covariate revealed a
significant N*P treatment
effect on average viable mass

9. Discussion
• Significant N*P treatment effect on average
seed mass and average seed viability
• When using basal area of red maples in each stand
as a covariate (thank you MELNHE tree inventory!)
Questions?