Biology session

Vicia biennis is one of the rare and endangered species of Hungary because it has only a couple of small and isolated populations by the river Tisza. There is not enough information about the biology of the species to understand the reasons of this rareness. Further problem is that recently there is direct human threat to these populations, so the conservation of the plants becomes a matter of some urgency. The objectives of the present study were to develop an ex-situ propagation technique and to investigate the morphological features and some of the ecological claims of the species. The following aspects and plant morphologic attributes were analysed: (1) seed germination capability; (2) influence of light conditions, water supply and poor soil on plant growth, mortality ratio and features of reproduction (flowering, yield and seed production); and (3) attributes related with flowering and seed production.

In my research germination was found to be extremely low (1-5%), but germination capability increased with scarification (most mature test seeds germinated within a couple of days if the seed coat was scarified). In spite of acid sand, the growth of the seedlings was excellent. Without any special treatment 87 percent of the seedlings survived until the flowering season, and produced a great quantity of yield and seed. From the collected data it seems that the species prefers half-shady and moist condition to shady or bright and arid conditions, however, these data have not been analysed with statistical methods yet. Reintroduction of Vicia biennis to the natural habitat by using seed was unsuccessful, but 66% of the planted seedlings survived and produced pods. My conclusions are that the ex situ propagation of Vicia biennis can be solved. Analysation of the collected data and planning additional researches can help to broaden our knowledge on the species and to find an efficient method for in-situ conservation.