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Title:	Effects of Flood Duration and Depth on Germination of Cherrybark, Post, Southern, White and Willow Oak Acorns
Author(s):	Guo, Yanfei; Shelton, Michael G.; Heitzman, Eric
Date:	2002
Source:	Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-48. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp 55-58
Description:	Effects of flood duration (0, 10, 20, and 30 days) and depth (10 and 100 centimeters below a water surface) on acorn germination were tested for two bottomland oaks (cherrybark oak [Quercus pagoda Raf.] and willow oak [Q. phellos L.]) and three upland oaks (post oak [Q. stellata Wang.], southern red oak [Q. falcata Michx.], and white oak [Q. alba L.]). The study was a 4 x 2 factorial with a completely randomized design. Acorns of the five species were collected in November 1995 in Drew County, Arkansas and stored in a refrigerator at 4 degrees Centigrade until stratification. Acorns were stratified for 45 days in plastic germination flats with 20-cubic centimeter cells filled with a silt loam soil and then flooded in a small pond from March 19 to April 18, 1996. After flooding, acorns were germinated for 60 days. Flood depth did not significantly affect germination of any species, but flood duration affected germination of the three upland species. There was no interaction between flood duration and depth for any species. Among the upland species, germination of white oak acorns with 20 days or more of flooding was almost totally prohibited, while germination of southern red oak acorns gradually decreased as flood duration increased. Although germination of post oak was significantly reduced by 20 and 30 days of flooding, more than 65 percent of the acorns germinated. Results of our study indicate that the effects of flooding on the species composition of bottomlands begin with the germination process.
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