Lee et al.

Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35

DOI 10.1186/s41610-017-0054-z
Journal of Ecology
and Environment

RESEARCH Open Access

Effect of nutrient and moisture on the

growth and reproduction of Epilobium
hirsutum L., an endangered plant
Eung-Pill Lee1, Young-Sub Han1,2, Soo-In Lee1, Kyu-Tae Cho1, Jae-Hoon Park1 and Young-Han You1*

Abstract
Background: In this study, the growth and reproductive response of seedlings, grown in plastic pots with sand, to
moisture and nutrients were analyzed in order to study the environmental conditions required to create an
alternative habitat for Epilobium hirsutum L., an endangered plant.
Results: Vegetative and reproductive growths of Epilobium hirsutum L. are accelerated with increase in moisture
and organic matter content in the soil. Among vegetative organs, the number of runners related to asexual
reproduction was the highest when the moisture content was over 25% and nutrient content between 7 and 14%
in the soil. But the number of flowers related to flowering responses, among reproductive organs, was the highest
when the moisture content was maintained at 75% and when nutrient content was 21% in the soil. The number of
seeds, related to sexual reproduction, was the highest when the moisture content was over 25% and nutrient
content between 14 and 21%.
Conclusions: The study results show that a place with high moisture and nutrient content in the soil is
advantageous to asexual and sexual reproduction of Epilobium hirsutum L. Therefore, we must serve periodically
nutrient and seeds to sustain population in in situ conservation. Furthermore, it is advisable to create in riverside
where abundant nutrient content have, making alternative habitat of Epilobium hirsutum L. Also, we must find
species that have high contribution degree index through vegetation survey.
Keywords: Vegetative growth, Asexual reproduction, Population, Alternative habitat

Background considered an endangered species in the central regions

About 650 species within 17 families of Onagraceae are of Korea which is the southern limit line of its distribu-
distributed around the world in temperate and subtropical tion (Ministry of Environment 2013). There are limited
regions where the majority of them are found in Western number of individuals and population of northern plants
regions of North America (Levin et al. 2003). Epilobium because they are scarcely distributed in Korea. And the
hirsutum L., a perennial plant that belong to family Ona- increase in temperature caused by global warming has
graceae, is known to be distributed in China, India, Eur- put them in the risk of extinction (Ministry of Environ-
ope, North America, and South Africa (National Institute ment 2013). Species that could not adapt to the environ-
of Biological Resources 2012). In South Korea, it has been mental change, in terms of reproductive ecology, are less
reported that it is found only in Ulleong-do, Mt. Juwang, competitive than those that are widely distributed
Samcheok, and Jeongseon. (National Institute of Biological (Lavergne et al. 2004). In addition, the environmental
Resources 2012; Yoon and You 2014). change increases the risk of extinction for species in the
Epilobium hirsutum L., which is known to be a north- region (Thomas and Williamson 2012).
ern plant around the world, is a common plant, but it is Another reason for Epilobium hirsutum L. being en-
dangered is because a lot of its habitat has been
destroyed by numerous developments (National Institute
* Correspondence: [email protected]
1
Life science, Kongju National University, Kongju, South Korea
of Biological Resources 2012). It is easy for population
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article to become extinct if its habitat is only found in one or
© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 2 of 9

two places within a limited geographical area and if its hirsutum L., an endangered species, for the species con-
habitat is affected by the people in the region (Lawler servation and restoration and to find adequate soil con-
et al. 2010; Peery et al. 2004). Also, the habitat may not ditions based on the data.
be suitable anymore for those species that live in that
habitat if the habitat’s surrounding environment is af- Methods
fected (Van Turnhout et al. 2010). Study material
A root cause must be analyzed in order to restore an The seeds of Epilobium hirsutum L. used in this study
endangered species (Given 1994) and, in case of plants, were bought from Key-chungsan botanical garden and
a study on growth and reproductive traits should be car- were kept in the refrigerator at 4 °C. Then, they were ger-
ried out in advance (Song et al. 2009). minated from mid-March to late-April before being used.
Soil is one of the important components for plants be-
cause it contains nutrients and moisture necessary for Habitat environmental factor analysis
plant growth (Kim et al. 2003). Among nutrients, or- The habitat of Epilobium hirsutum L. in Mt. Juwang Na-
ganic matter increases chemical, physical, microbio- tional Park did not have species that block the light, and the
logical features of the soil assisting plants in assimilation illuminance was constantly measured at 280.87 ± 12.59 lx
and in root elongation (Joergensen et al. 1990). But the using digital lux meter (TES 1332A, TES, Taiwan). The soil
plants cannot have a normal growth if there is excess or from three places, within the habitat, was collected for the
insufficient moisture in the soil (Hsiao and Jackson analysis of water content and organic matter. Five grams of
1999). If there is a lack of oxygen supply from excess fresh soil was dried in a hot air dryer over 48 h at 105 °C,
moisture, the plant growth is aggravated because the and the difference in mass was expressed in percentage to
root cannot absorb nutrients and moisture (Hsiao and measure the water content. After removing the foreign sub-
Jackson 1999). And this lack of moisture, a water stress, stance, 5 g of soil sample was dried for more than 48 h at
could cause abscission of leaves and reduction in leaf 105 °C and weighed. It was then baked for 4 h in an electric
area and seed production (An et al. 2008). furnace to calculate the organic matter by deducting ash
Worldwide scholars have been studying how moisture content from dry weight. As a result, the water content was
and nutrients affect endangered plants (Hasselquist and 17.6 ± 9.5% and organic matter was 3.0 ± 0.6%.
Allen 2009; Lentz 1999). Found only in the oasis of Amar-
gosa Valley, Nitrophila mohavensis and Grindelia fraxino- Cultivation and environmental factor treatment
pratensis face extinction as people used water in the oasis The experiment was carried out outside, where environ-
excessively for agriculture, cattle farming, and mining ment conditions such as temperature, humidity, and pre-
(Hasselquist and Allen 2009). A study on the effect of nu- cipitation are the same, from May 2015 to September
trient supply was conducted to restore Scirpus ancistro- 2015. In May, the seedlings of Epilobium hirsutum L.
chaetu, an endangered plant, and it revealed that the that have 2~3 leaves were individually transplanted into
plant’s growth and biomass enlarged with increase in nu- twenty small plastic pots (outer diameter 14.9 cm × height
trient supply (Lentz 1999). Therefore, we need to know 13.2 cm × bottom diameter 15 cm) for each gradient.
the ecological requirements of a plant species as it can But from July, large plastic pots (outer diameter
react differently to various environmental conditions (Kim 24.5 cm × height 14.5 cm × bottom diameter 14.5 cm)
et al. 1995). Moreover, it is essential to search for an ad- were used to prevent impediment to the root growth.
equate environment of a plant species by experimenting The seedlings were sufficiently watered before the trans-
with the environmental conditions (Larcher 2003). plant, and the empty spaces were covered with sand ra-
Until now, the following studies related to endangered ther than pressing it with hand. During the transplant,
species have been conducted in Korea: “Distribution and we ensured that the amount of sand remain constant by
Conservation (Lim et al. 2010; Lee et al. 2011)”, “Habitat maintaining the height of seedlings consistently because
Characteristics Analysis (Kim et al. 2013; Choi et al. moisture or nutrient retention capacity could change de-
2014)”, “Climate Change (Han et al. 2012; Park et al. pending on the amount of soil in the pots.
2014)”, “Growth and Reproduction Characteristics (So It is well known that moisture and nutrients are cru-
et al. 2008; Lee and Kim 2011)”, and “Restoration and cial for plant’s growth (Barbour et al. 1999). Therefore,
Evaluation (You and Kim 2010; Bae 2012).” A research moisture and organic matter were treated to investigate
on its taxonomy has been conducted (Lee et al. 2013), the growth and reproductive response of Epilobium hir-
but basic data on its habitat, growth, and reproduction sutum according to increase in moisture and nutrients.
does not exist. Based on results about soil analysis of Juwang Mountain
The moisture and organic matter in the soil, which are National Park, Korea , moisture gradient was divided
core factors for plant growth, were treated to obtain into four gradients by 25% interval: low moisture condi-
basic data on ecological characteristics of Epilobium tion (M0, 25%), low medium moisture condition (M1,
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 3 of 9

50%), high medium moisture condition (M2, 75%), and Data collection and measurement
high moisture condition (M3, 100%). The following variables were measured at the end of Au-
As a result of soil analysis in Mt. Juwang National Park gust 2015: shoot length (cm), leaf width length (ea), leaf
where inhabit Epilobium hirsutum L., organic matter lamina length (ea), and number of runners (ea) for
content in soil is low as 3.0 ± 0.6%. However, we con- growth; and number of flower buds (ea), number of
firmed that their site is influenced by water erosion, so flowers (ea), peduncle length (cm), number of seeds per
we referred to organic matter content of other plants peduncle (ea) and number of seeds per individual (ea)
(Scrophularia takesimensis; 9.1–19.1%, Eleutherococcus for reproduction.
senticosus; 8.27–19.75%, Viola websteri; 8.1–22.8%) and The number of seeds per peduncle (ea) and the num-
then select maximum value. We referred report (Brady ber of seeds per individual (ea) were counted every day
and Weil 1996) showed the good condition of plant from August, when the peduncle starts to mature, until
growth is usually 5%, so we selected conveniently the end of September. The number of seeds per peduncle
first gradient as 7%. Therefore, considering nutrient con- was calculated by dividing the total number of seeds by
tents of habitats of other endangered species, we treated the total number of peduncle of an individual and the
four nutrient gradients: low nutrient condition (N0, 0%), number of seeds per individual was calculated by adding
low medium condition (N1, 7%), high medium condition all the seeds collected from all the peduncle of an
(N2, 14%), and high nutrient condition (N3, 21%). individual.

Data analysis
Moisture
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component
The field capacity, which is the amount of moisture held
analysis (PCA) were used to reveal the intraspecific vari-
in soil located in pots after excess, was drained away and
ation and similarity of growth and reproductive re-
was set as the maximum value for water treatment. The
sponses of Epilobium hirsutum L. to each environmental
field capacities of small and large plastic pots were
gradient (No and Jeong 2002). For intraspecific variation,
200 mL (M3) and 1000 mL (M3) respectively. Dry sand
the significance of differences in gradients was verified
with less than 2 mm sand grains were used as soil.
by conducting analysis of variance for each trait. And
When pots were filled with dry sand, the small and large
the significance of differences in gradients was analyzed
plastic pots each weighed 1 and 2 kg.
with post hoc analysis at 5% Fisher’s LSD (No and Jeong
2002). The average value of trait was used as correlation
Nutrients coefficient and plotted using PCA to find the similarity
Sand grains that are less than 2 mm in size were used as (No and Jeong 2002).
soil and organic matter was mixed proportionally by The above statistical analysis was performed by using
using dry sand as the standard (100%) for nutrient treat- Statistica 8 (Statsoft Co. 2007).
ment. The composite (Heuksal Gold, KG Chemical
Corp.) that has following properties was dried and used Results and discussion
as nutrient in the study: 40∼60% moisture, 60~80% Vegetative growth
water retention, 0.2∼0.4 Mg m−3 bulk density, The shoot length (cm) tended to be long with increased
pH 5.5∼7.5, EC ≤ 1.2dS m−1, NH4-N ≤ 600 mg L−1, NO3- in soil moisture (Fig. 3a). In nutrient gradient, the shoot
N ≤ 300 mg L−1, ≤ 500 mg L−1 soluble phosphate, and length (cm) was longer high medium condition (N2) and
CEC 10–30 cmol L−1. high nutrient condition (N3) than low nutrient condition
Moisture and nutrient gradient were watered once in (N0) and low medium condition (N1) (Fig. 3e).
the morning and in the afternoon every day except dur- The number of leaves was greater in high medium
ing rainy season. During the rainy season (26 June; 7–9, moisture condition (M2) and high moisture condition
12–13, and 21–24 July), we provided water to the seed- (M3) than low moisture condition (M0) and low
lings 3 days after the rain. The pots were rearranged medium moisture condition (M1) (Fig. 3b). In nutrient
every week to minimize the effect of pots’ position. gradient, the number of leaves was greater in low
Automatic weather system (AWS) of Korea Meteoro- medium condition (N1) than low nutrient condition
logical Administration was used to obtain values for the (N0). It tended to decline up to high medium condition
temperature (°C) and humidity (%) from the Gongju ob- (N2), but it was increased again in high nutrient condi-
servatory. The daily values observed at 09:00, 12:00, and tion (N3) (Fig. 3f ).
17:00 were organized each month. The temperature was The leaf width and leaf lamina length tended to be
21.38 ± 1.16 °C (Fig. 1), humidity was 55.93 ± 3.56% long with increased in soil moisture (Fig. 3c, d), and
(Fig. 2), and precipitation was 1.62 ± 3.98 mm over the there was no significant difference in all nutrient condi-
study period. tion (Fig. 3g, h).
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 4 of 9

Fig. 1 Monthly average temperature from March to September 2015

Deducing from the increase in shoot length, number of length and leaf lamina length (Lee 1995). But Bupleurum
leaves, leaf width length, and leaf lamina length in the mois- latissimum showed no difference in the shoot length and the
ture gradient (Fig. 3a–d), we think that the growth response number of leaves across gradients (Jeong 2012).
got better because vegetative growth was great with in- In the nutrient gradient, it seems that the growth re-
creased in soil moisture because the morphological variation sponse was on the rise by increasing the number of leaves
of leaves, which are directly related to the growth response, to obtain greater surface area for photosynthesis as organic
greatly affect physiological activities such as photosynthesis matter increased (Lawlor and Mitchell 1991). The shoot
and respiration (Chim and Han 2003). The growth responses length and number of leaves of Bupleurum latissimum, a
of perennial herbaceous plants were different as the moisture perennial plant, was on the rise as organic matter increased
increased (Lee and Park 2005; Lee 1995; Jeong 2012). Achyr- (Jeong 2012). However, Centella asiatica, a perennial plant,
anthes japonica increased in its shoot length (Lee and Park showed no difference in the number of leaves across the
2005), and Valeriana fauriei was on the rise in its leaf width gradients (Devkota and Jha 2009).

Fig. 2 Monthly average humidity and precipitation from March to September 2015
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 5 of 9

Fig. 3 Shoot length (a, e), no. of leaves (b, f), leaf width length (c, g), and leaf lamina length (d, h) of Epilobium hirsutum L. measured under
moisture and nutrient gradients. Alphabets on the bars mean significant difference among environmental treatments (Fisher’s least significant
difference, p < 0.05). Above bars on the graph mean standard deviation. (N = 20)

Reproductive growth number of seeds per peduncle tended to decline from

The number of runners tended to rise with increased in low nutrient condition (N0) to low medium condition
soil moisture and the number of runners in low mois- (N1), but it tended to increase from high nutrient condi-
ture condition (M0) was lower than the others (Fig. 4a). tion (N3) (Fig. 5e).
In nutrient gradients, the number of runners was higher The number of seeds per individual was lower in low
in low medium condition (N1) than low nutrient condi- moisture condition (M0) than the others (Fig. 4f ). In
tion (N0). It tended to increase up to high medium con- high medium condition (N2) and high nutrient condi-
dition (N2), but it tended to decline again in high tion (N3), the number of seeds per individual was higher
nutrient condition (N3) (Fig. 5a). than low nutrient condition (N0) and low medium con-
The number of flower buds and flowers tended to in- dition (N1) (Fig. 5f ).
crease from low moisture condition (M0) to high medium It seems that asexual reproduction of Epilobium hirsu-
moisture condition (M2), but it tended to decline from tum L. will become more active, leading to enlarge its
high moisture condition (M3) (Fig. 4b, c). In nutrient gra- population, with increase in moisture when the nutrient
dient, the number of flower buds and flowers tended to is 7~14% observing from the fact that the number of
rise with increased in nutrient contents (Fig. 5b, c). runners escalated with increase in moisture in the mois-
The peduncle length tended to be long with increased ture gradient (Fig. 4a) and that the number runners are
in soil moisture, and the peduncle length in low moisture the greatest under medium nutrient condition (N1, N2)
condition (M0) was shorter than the others (Fig. 4d). In in the nutrient gradient (Fig. 5a). Similarly, Polygonatum
nutrient gradients, the peduncle length tended to be short involucratum, a perennial plant, and Polygonatum
from low nutrient condition (N0) to low medium condi- humile maintain their population by horizontally adding
tion (N1), but it tended to be long in high medium condi- asexual reproductive individuals (Choung 1991).
tion (N2) (Fig. 5d). However, the peduncle length tended Regarding the reproductive response, the number of
to be short in high nutrient condition (N3) (Fig. 5d). flower buds and the number of flowers were the greatest
The number of seeds per peduncle was higher in low under medium moisture condition (M2) in the moisture
medium moisture condition (M1) than low moisture gradient (Figs. 4b, c and 5b, c). The peduncle length
condition (M0), but it tended to decline from high mois- (Fig. 4d), the number of seeds per peduncle (Fig. 4e),
ture condition (M3) (Fig. 4e). In nutrient gradients, the and the number of seeds per individual (Fig. 4f ) all
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 6 of 9

Fig. 4 No. of runners (a), no. of flower buds (b), no. of flowers (c), Peduncle length (d), no. of seeds per peduncle (e), and no. of seeds per
individual (f) of Epilobium hirsutum L. measured under moisture gradients. Alphabets on the bars mean significant difference among
environmental treatments (Fisher’s least significant difference, p < 0.05). Above bars on the graph mean standard deviation. (N = 20)

escalated with increase in moisture and resulted in aug- condition (N0), and medium nutrient condition (N0)
mented reproductive response. The number of flower (Fig. 6). And the lower right quadrant consisted of individ-
buds and the number of flowers were the greatest under uals from low moisture condition (M0) and low nutrient
high nutrient condition (N3) in the nutrient gradient condition (N0) (Fig. 6). Based on the plotted coordinates,
(Fig. 5b, c). The peduncle length (Fig. 5d), the number of it is evident that Epilobium hirsutum L. shows similar re-
seeds per peduncle (Fig. 5e), and the number of seeds sponses according to moisture and nutrients.
per individual (Fig. 5f ) all escalated with increase in nu- In the moisture gradient, the individuals from high
trient and resulted in augmented reproductive response. moisture condition (M3) displayed similar responses as
It is assumed that the result of reproductive response of those from medium moisture condition (M1, M2) and
Epilobium hirsutum L. in this study is due to change of the individuals from low moisture condition (M0)
plant phenology period according to optimal partitioning showed similar responses as those from medium mois-
model (Beranacchi et al. 2000). The root of a plant, while ture condition (M1) (Fig. 6). But the responses of indi-
absorbing moisture and nutrient from soil, changes its viduals from medium moisture condition (M2) and high
development stage and duration with the leaves and in moisture condition (M3) were distinct from the re-
the process it indirectly affects the reproductive response sponses of individuals from low moisture condition
of the plants (Aizen 2003; Nord and Lynch 2009). (M0) (Fig. 6). In the nutrient gradient, the responses of
individuals from low nutrient condition (N0) and those
Principal component analysis from high nutrient condition (N3) were distinct al-
The distribution of individuals according to moisture and though those from medium nutrient condition, N1 and
nutrient gradients was rather dispersed on the two- N2, showed similar responses (Fig. 6).
dimensional coordinates (Fig. 6). The lower left quadrant There were several traits that affected the distribution
consisted of individuals from high nutrient condition (N3) pattern in the ordination. In case of factor 1 (37.80%),
whereas the center consisted of individuals from low there were eight traits apart from leaf width length and
moisture condition (M0), medium moisture condition leaf lamina length. In case of factor 2 (29.64%), there
(M1, M2), high moisture condition (M3), low nutrient were five traits apart from shoot length, number of
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 7 of 9

Fig. 5 No. of runners (a), no. of flower buds (b), no. of flowers (c), peduncle length (d), no. of seeds per peduncle (e), and no. of seeds per
individual (f) of Epilobium hirsutum L. measured under nutrient gradients. Alphabets on the bars mean significant difference among
environmental treatments (Fisher’s least significant difference, p < 0.05). Above bars on the graph mean standard deviation. (N = 20)

Fig. 6 Two dimensional of PCA ordination of 40 individuals of Epilobium hirsutum L. using 14 variables treated to moisture and nutrient gradients.
(M moisture, N nutrient)
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 8 of 9

leaves, number of runners, number of flower buds, and matter. Also, sexual and asexual reproduction was in-
number of flowers (Table 1). creased by raising the number of seeds and runners.
The PCA result confirmed that the responses of indi- Although in situ conservation like installation of pence
viduals from high nutrient condition (N3) were different and protective facility is carrying out for protecting habi-
from responses of individuals from moisture conditions tat of endangered species, it is not reasonable because it
(M0, M1, M2, M3) and nutrient conditions (N0, N1, is performed without sufficient information about the
N2). Considering that ecological niche breadth include species (Byun et al. 2013). To succeed in in situ conser-
the range of environmental tolerance (Pianka 1983), the vation of Epilobium hirsutum, sufficient nutrient that
fact that vegetative and reproductive growth of Epilo- can recruit autonomously individual must be provided
bium hirsutum L. were the highest (Figs. 3, 4, and 5) in periodically. Also, it is necessary to multiply individuals
high nutrient condition (N3) clearly shows that this in ex situ conservation institute and then supply seeds
plant adapts well to an environment such as N3. In (Crawley and Ross 1990).
addition, the distinction of responses displayed by Epilo- To carry out ex situ conservation with in situ conser-
bium hirsutum L. into various groups according to mois- vation, we think that reservoirs near the riverside where
ture and nutrient conditions is not caused by one or two have high moisture and nutrient content is suitable alter-
trait but rather it involves overall trait of the plant. native habitat. However, it is necessary to figure out spe-
cies that has high index. Because when habitat of
Epilobium hirsutum is influenced by artificial and nat-
Conclusions ural disturbance, the species invade first and then other
The endangered plants are weaker than other plants in plants are diffused. In other words, the species play a
competition, and they are greatly affected by the envir- role bridgehead (Ren et al. 2008). We think that finding
onmental conditions of their habitats (Kim et al. 1995). the species is important information to create new alter-
Therefore, basic studies on the growth and reproductive native habitat, to sustain population of rose and to man-
characteristics must precede to restore endangered age habitat (Lortie and Turkington 2008).
plants (Song et al. 2009) and only then should the dam-
aged habitat be restored and alternative habitat be pro- Abbreviations
vided considering the environmental conditions (Kim ANOVA: Analysis of variance; AWS: Automatic weather system; PCA: Principal
component analysis
et al. 1995).
The soil is one of the essential components in the Funding
plant growth. All the plants grow and reproduce on soil This study was supported by Mid-career Researcher Program (NRF-
and their distribution largely depends on the characteris- 2016R1A2B1010709) through NRF grant funded by the MEST.
tic of soil (Kim et al. 2003). In this study, the moisture
and nutrient were treated in soil—an essential element Availability of data and materials
Not applicable
for plants—to examine the response of Epilobium hirsu-
tum L. to environmental factors and the growth re-
Authors’ contributions
sponse was great with increased in moisture and organic All authors conducted a survey together during the study period. LEP wrote
the manuscript. LSI and PJH collected the data. HYS and CKT analyzed the
Table 1 Correlation matrix of 14 variables with the first and two data. YYH participated in the design of the study and examined the
principal component scores of PCA analysis manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Variables Factors
Ethics approval and consent to participate
I II Not applicable
Shoot length − 0.895394 0.021109
No. of leaves − 0.567502 − 0.207993 Consent for publication
Not applicable
Leaf width length − 0.176009 0.690317
Leaf lamina length − 0.195294 0.543986 Competing interests
No. of runners − 0.395305 − 0.171323 The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

No. of flower buds − 0.859450 − 0.266172

No. of flowers − 0.872042 − 0.255074 Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in
Peduncle length − 0.455668 0.630369 published maps and institutional affiliations.
No. of seeds per peduncle − 0.344601 0.652395
Author details
No. of seeds per individual − 0.687888 0.529765 1
Life science, Kongju National University, Kongju, South Korea. 2Division of
Ecological Survey Research, National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, South
Variance explained (%) 37.80 29.64
Korea.
Lee et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2017) 41:35 Page 9 of 9

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