Intrapopulation variability in morphological and functional properties of Ambrosia artemisiifolia l. seeds

The aim of the research was to determinate the degree of variation in morphological (seed weight) and functional polymorphism (final germination, dormancy, seed mortality and germination dynamic) within two seed populations of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. Seeds were collected separately from 20 plants/population in Jastebarsko (45°40'18˝N; 15°39'03˝E), population-J and Popovača (45°34´1˝N; 16°40´43˝E), population-P in 2014. Seed weight of J and P populations had weak variability (CV-J = 18.2%, CV-P= 29.8%) with an average of 4.05 g (J) and 4.54 g (P). Estimated variability was strong for amount of death seeds in the J (CV = 67.6%), but weak for geminated (CV = 4.9%) and moderate for dormant seeds (CV = 51.0%). Variability within P population was moderate for both germinated and dead seeds (CV = 34.5%; 34.1%), while variability within amount of dormant seeds was weak (CV = 14.2%). Variability in medium germination (T50) was relatively low for both experimental populations (CV – J = 12.0%; CV – P = 22.4%). Despite determined intrapopulation variation, degrees of variability between researched parameters (final germination, dormancy and medium germination – T50) were weak or moderate and therefore acceptable for further experiment base on seed testing.