Seeds project

People

From 2000 on, Carmen Sartor has studied one of the mechanisms affecting the loss of seeds from the soil bank of both perennial grasses and annual forbs: germination. Presently she is assessing whether some of the seeds under study exhibit dormancy/non-dormancy cycles. With regards to this, she is particularly interested in the effect of temperature on the dormancy phenomenon. Besides, she acts as Co-director in two studies on the effect of deep burial on the germination of seeds and the emergence of seedlings of four species of the Monte desert. This work is being directed by Rafael González del Solar, while María Inés Bourguet and Claudia Tironi, both bachelor candidates at Licenciatura en Ciencias Naturales (Instituto San Pedro Nolasco-Universidad del Aconcagua, Mendoza), are the involved students.

Since 2001 Rodrigo Pol and Gabriela Pirk have been studying the phenology and production of grass seeds in Ñacuñán under the supervision of Luis Marone. They attempt to get a closer look at the spatial and temporal patterns of seed dispersion throughout the growing season (summer-autumn) as well as between seasons with different rainfall levels (i.e., dry seasons vs. wet seasons). They are particularly interested in the implications of these patterns in the foraging activity (e.g. diet, seed selection, foraging behaviour, etc.) of seed-eating ants of the genus Pogonomyrmex.