Ecological correlations between the persistence of the soil seed bank and several plant traits, including seed dormancy

Plant Ecology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 196 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukio Honda
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Soil Seed Bank

scholarly journals Dormancy-Breaking and Germination Requirements for Seeds of Sorbus alnifolia (Siebold & Zucc.) K.Koch (Rosaceae), a Mesic Forest Tree with High Ornamental Potential

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 319
Author(s):  
Yuhan Tang ◽  
Keliang Zhang ◽  
Yin Zhang ◽  
Jun Tao
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Germination Percentage ◽  
Cold Stratification ◽  
Dormancy Breaking ◽  
Breaking Dormancy

Sorbus alnifolia (Siebold & Zucc.) K.Koch (Rosaceae) is an economically important tree in the temperate forests of Eastern China. In recent decades, ever-increasing use and modification of forestlands have resulted in major degeneration of the natural habitat of S. alnifolia. Moreover, S. alnifolia seeds germinate in a complicated way, leading to a high cost of propagation. The current study aimed to determine the requirements for breaking seed dormancy and for germination as well as to characterize the type of seed dormancy present in this species. Moreover, the roles of temperature, cold/warm stratification, and gibberellic acid (GA3) in breaking dormancy were tested combined with a study of the soil seed bank. The results showed that intact seeds of S. alnifolia were dormant, requiring 150 days of cold stratification to achieve the maximum germination percentage at 5/15 °C. Exposure of the seeds to ranges of temperatures at 15/25 °C and 20/30 °C resulted in secondary dormancy. Scarifying seed coat and partial removal of the cotyledon promoted germination. Compared with long-term cold stratification, one month of warm stratification plus cold stratification was superior in breaking dormancy. Application of GA3 did not break the dormancy during two months of incubation. Seeds of S. alnifolia formed a transient seed bank. The viability of freshly matured S. alnifolia seeds was 87.65% ± 11.67%, but this declined to 38.25% after 6-months of storage at room temperature. Seeds of S. alnifolia have a deep physiological dormancy; cold stratification will be useful in propagating this species. The long chilling requirements of S. alnifolia seeds would avoid seedling death in winter.

The role of seedbanks in invasions by Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf in Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod K. Chejara ◽  
Paul Kristiansen ◽  
R. D. B. (Wal) Whalley ◽  
Brian M. Sindel ◽  
Christopher Nadolny
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Seed Production ◽  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Invasive Weed ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Poor Seed

Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf (also known as Coolatai grass, South African bluestem or thatching grass) has become a serious invasive weed in Australia. Within its native range, it is generally regarded as a useful grass particularly for thatching, and seed production is low with a low soil seed bank of from 2 to 200seedsm–2. Several hundred accessions of H. hirta were deliberately introduced into Australia up until the 1980s and nearly all were discarded because of poor seed production. However, at least one introduction in the 1890s in northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia, has possibly contributed to the present serious weed problem. Annual seed production from roadside stands in northern NSW ranged from 7000 to 92000seedsm–2 in 2015. The soil seed bank under dense H. hirta infestations in the same region in 2006 and 2007, was found to be ~30000seedsm–2 mostly confined to the top 2cm, with few dormant seeds and a large reduction of these numbers over the next 12 months when further seed input was prevented. Similar studies of other perennial grass weeds have found seed banks of similar sizes, but dormancy mechanisms ensure that their seed banks last for at least 10 years without further seed input. These results suggest that the present weedy populations of H. hirta have dramatically increased fecundity enabling a large seed bank to develop beneath dense stands. The development of seed dormancy and consequently a long-lived seed bank would make this weed even more difficult to control. Until seed dormancy develops, control of H. hirta in northern NSW can be effective provided further input into the seed bank can be prevented.

Forest seed banks along an intensity gradient of ancient agriculture

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Plue ◽  
J.-L. Dupouey ◽  
K. Verheyen ◽  
M. Hermy
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Simultaneous Increase ◽  
Land Use Intensity ◽  
Intensity Gradient

AbstractRecently, forest seed banks were proven to not only reflect former (decades-old) but also ancient (centuries-old) land use. Yet, as land-use intensity determines the magnitude of seed-bank changes in recent forests, this study aims to identify whether an ancient land-use gradient would also be reflected in the seed bank. On a forested 1600-year-old archaeological site, five different land-use intensities were mapped and sampled. Apart from seed density, species richness and composition, functional seed-bank types, defined by nine seed-bank-related plant traits, were related to the land-use intensity gradient. The land-use gradient from gardens to undisturbed sites was still clearly reflected in the soil seed bank. Six emergent functional seed-bank types, characterized by specific plant traits, changed significantly in abundance, parallel to the land-use gradient. In particular, dispersal agent (and related traits) proved an important explanatory trait of present (functional) seed-bank patterns. Poor dispersers (large and heavy seeds) were not found in the intensively used areas, contrary to animal-dispersed species. Wind-dispersers may have been inhibited in the extension of their distribution by recruitment bottlenecks (low seed production) and/or competitive exclusion. Additionally, the agricultural land-use probably introduced ruderal species into the seed bank of the most intensively used areas, yielding a simultaneous increase in vegetation–seed-bank dissimilarity with land-use intensity, eliminating present vegetation as a driver behind the differences over the seed-bank gradient. We conclude by arguing how coppice-with-standards management possibly maintained the seed-bank gradient.

scholarly journals Seed Dormancy, Seedling Establishment and Dynamics of the Soil Seed Bank of Stipa bungeana (Poaceae) on the Loess Plateau of Northwestern China

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e112579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Wen Hu ◽  
Yan Pei Wu ◽  
Xing Yu Ding ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Yan Rong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Seedling Establishment ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Northwestern China ◽  
The Loess Plateau

Differences between species in seed bank and vegetation helps to hold functional diversity in a floodable Neotropical savanna

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evaldo B de Souza ◽  
Francielli Bao ◽  
Geraldo A Damasceno Júnior ◽  
Arnildo Pott
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Environmental Filters ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Seedling Emergence Method ◽  
Pantanal Wetland

Abstract Aims Our objective was to quantify the contributions of the seed bank and the established vegetation to the species composition, functional composition and diversity, and discuss the implications of these differences in regeneration and persistence of floodplain plant communities. Methods We sampled all ground cover vegetation up to 1.5 m height and seed bank in 25 plots (10 m × 1 m) distributed across five sites in dry and rainy seasons in a periodically flooded savanna in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. We evaluated the soil seed bank by seedling emergence method. Important Findings The seed bank species had traits that conferred regeneration to the communities, while persistence traits characterized the vegetation. The seed bank had higher functional richness and lower functional evenness than the vegetation. The existence of different plant traits between seed bank and vegetation allowed the coexistence of species with functionally contrasting persistence and regeneration traits, which may help maintain functional diversity. It may allow the community to be more resilient when dealing with different environmental filters such as drought, fire and flood.

Reestablishment Potential of Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) after Removal and Control Efforts

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew M. Cousins ◽  
Jeanne Briggs ◽  
Ted Whitwell ◽  
Chuck Gresham ◽  
Jack Whetstone
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Southeastern United States ◽  
Viable Seed ◽  
Vegetation Removal ◽  
Viable Seeds ◽  
And Control ◽  
Fruit Mass

AbstractBeach vitex is an invasive plant of coastal areas of the southeastern United States from Maryland to Georgia. Many resources have been dedicated to the control of established beach vitex stands. Successful eradication will require knowledge of this plant's ability to reestablish from seed after control efforts. To understand seed-based regenerative potential, studies were conducted to characterize the fruits and seeds, document the existence and size of seed banks, determine stratification requirements for germination, and ascertain seed dormancy mechanisms. Studies of fruit lots from three consecutive years (2003 to 2005) found that the average fruit contained 1.39 seeds, and more than 76% of fruits contained at least one viable seed. A positive correlation existed between seed number and both fruit mass and fruit diameter. A substantial soil seed bank was discovered that contained viable seeds 4 yr after vegetation removal. Stratification was required for seed germination. All stratification treatments induced germination, with highest rates realized when stratification was performed at 10 C for 8 or 12 wk. Germination rates were modestly increased (from 0 to 17%) through mild scarification in the absence of stratification. Results indicate that beach vitex has physical (fruit coat) and physiological (seed) dormancy mechanisms that are capable of delaying germination for multiple seasons, allowing development of a soil seed bank. Beach vitex can reestablish from seed after vegetation removal.

Soil seed bank community dynamics in seasonally moist lowland tropical forest, Panama

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 659-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Dalling ◽  
M. D. Swaine ◽  
Nancy C. Garwood
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dormancy ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Barro Colorado Island ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Seed Germinability

ABSTRACTSeasonal changes in the densities of dormant seeds in the soil around eight pioneer trees in the 50-ha Forest Dynamics Plot, on Barro Colorado Island, Panamá were studied, and how seed dispersal and seed dormancy influenced patterns of seed abundance and distribution were examined. Twenty-four, 3-cm-deep soil samples were collected on 30 m transects radiating out from each of the trees in each of four time-intervals through the year, and four 21-cm-deep samples were collected beneath the focal tree crowns. In the surface 0–3 cm of soil, germinable seed densities of all species combined declined from a peak of 1090 seeds m−2 in the mid-wet season in August, to 330 seeds m−2 by the end of the wet season in November. In contrast, at soil depths >3 cm, there was little variation in soil seed bank density through the year. Some variation in soil seed bank density for individual species could be accounted for by distance to reproductive conspecifics. Among species, abundance in the soil was negatively correlated with seed size. Seed persistence varied greatly among species at this site; after 1 y of burial in mesh bags, seed germinability of four species was near zero, while four other species showed no consistent decline in seed germinability after >2 y of burial. For at least one species, Trema micrantha, prolonged seed dormancy was also possible under natural conditions. Twenty-five percent of Trema seeds extracted from the soil at a site occupied by an isolated Trema tree that died between 1982 and 1985 were still germinable in 1994.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document