Seed germination modeling of volunteer canola as affected by temperature and water potential: hydrothermal time model

In this research, seed germination modeling of volunteer canola was conducted satisfactory. Segmented function was used to describe seed germination rate to temperature. Base temperature was 2.73 oC and it was increased with decreasing water potential to about 6.7 oC at -0.8 MPa. The R2 values were 0.94 at sub-optimal temperatures, and this value for supra-optimal temperatures was 0.96. The R2 values showed a good fitness of the hydrothermal time model under both sub- and supra-optimal temperatures. The hydrothermal values were 36.2 and 42.9 MPa oC for sub- and supra-optimal temperatures, respectively. The parameters and relationships estimated here can be used in soil seed bank dynamics models or can be used to establish a new model for the environment. The results of this study will also be useful for future studies of wild mustard biology and ecology.