Influence of selected environmental variables on the germination of Eucalyptus costata

Joseph Stapleton; Callum Measham-Pywell; Singarayer Florentine

doi:10.1071/RJ25008

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Influence of selected environmental variables on the germination of Eucalyptus costata

Joseph Stapleton ^A , Callum Measham-Pywell ^A and Singarayer Florentine

^A ^B ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A The Future Regions Research Centre, Institute of Innovation, Science and Sustainability, Federation University Australia, Mount Helen, Vic 3350, Australia.

^B Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic 3000, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: s.florentine@federation.edu.au

The Rangeland Journal 47, RJ25008 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ25008

Submitted: 12 March 2025 Accepted: 22 May 2025 Published: 23 June 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Rangeland Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Eucalyptus costata is a widespread eucalypt species used in restoration works. It is common to the Mallee, a vegetation type in the semiarid temperate region of southern Australia, characterised by hot summers and mild winters, generally reliable but highly variable rainfall, and nutrient poor soils composed primarily of sands. An understanding of the germination biology of Eucalyptus costata may assist in its successful establishment. We studied the impacts of light, temperature, salinity, moisture and sowing depth on the germination of E. costata in the laboratory and considered the results in a restoration context. Germination was lowest under the highest temperature regime (35°C/25°C), high salt concentrations (>100 mM) and low water potentials (taking 14 MPa of humidity per day to germinate). Sowing depths greater than 2 cm reduced seedling emergence. These results suggest that E. costata’s germination requirements are shallow sowing in low salinity soils during periods of cool or mild wet weather, consistent with winter and spring planting.

Keywords: arid conditions, Australian Mallee, burial depth, drought salinity, Eucalyptus, germination, germination temperature, restoration works.

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