Impact of forest fire on soil seed bank composition in Himalayan Chir pine forest

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-184
Author(s):  
Bobbymoore Konsam ◽  
Shyam S Phartyal ◽  
Nagendra P Todaria
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Postfire Regeneration ◽  
Standing Vegetation ◽  
Chir Pine

Abstract Aims To explain how plant community copes with a recurring anthropogenic forest fire in Himalayan Chir pine forest, it is important to understand their postfire regeneration strategies. The primary aim of the study was to know: (i) how fire impact soil seed bank composition and (ii) how much soil seed bank composition differs with standing vegetation after the forest fire. Methods Soil samples were collected from burned and adjoining unburned sites in blocks using three layers down to 9 cm depth immediately after a forest fire and incubated in the net-house for seedling emergence. Same sites were revisited during late monsoon/early autumn season to know the species composition of standing vegetation recovered after a forest fire. Important Findings Soil contained viable seeds of >70 species. The average seed bank density was 8417 and 14 217 seeds/m2 in the burned and unburned site, respectively. In both sites, it decreased with increasing soil depth. Overall fire had no significant impact on seed density; however, taking individual layers into consideration, fire had a significant impact on seed density only in the uppermost soil layer. The species richness of soil seed bank and standing vegetation was 73 and 100, respectively (with 35 shared species), resulting in a similarity of about 40%. In contrast, >80% species in soil seed bank was found similar between burned and unburned sites. Further, there were no significant differences in species richness of standing vegetation in burned (87 spp.) and unburned (78 spp.) sites. Our results showed that fire had an insignificant impact on soil seed bank composition and restoration potential of a plant species from seeds. The understory herb and shrub plant community’s ability to form a fire-resistant viable soil seed bank and capable to recover in the postfire rainy season, explains how they reduce the risk of recurring fire damage in maintaining their population.

Can spatial variation and inter-annual variation in precipitation explain the seed density and species richness of the germinable soil seed bank in a tropical dry forest in north-eastern Brazil?

Flora ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 208 (7) ◽  
pp. 445-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Melo dos Santos ◽  
Kleber Andrade da Silva ◽  
Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque ◽  
Josiene Maria Falcão Fraga dos Santos ◽  
Clarissa Gomes Reis Lopes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
North Eastern

scholarly journals Natural vegetation regeneration from soil seed banks in the cultivated edges of Sudd wetlands in Juba, Southern Sudan

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Esaete ◽  
Augustine Bongo ◽  
Thomas Lado ◽  
Tomor Bojoi ◽  
Henry Busulwa
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Interquartile Range ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Soil Seed Banks ◽  
Species Richness And Diversity

Soil seed banks are important for regeneration of degraded wetlands ecosystems. The Sudd wetlands of Juba city have long been encroached for crop cultivation. Seedling germination was monitored in a greenhouse to establish possible natural regeneration in Mindiari, Rejaf and Roton wetlands in the Sudd. Sixty-four species germinated from the soil seed bank of which 12.5% were dominated by Cyperus difformis and Typha capensis. The findings showed that median wetland species richness in Mindiari was 1.5 (interquartile range = 0.75?3.5), Rejaf 2.5 (interquartile range = 1.0 ? 4.0), Roton 3 (interquartile range = 1.0 ? 5.0) while median Shannon-Wiener diversity was 1.5 (1.14 ?1.73), 1.43 (1.01?1.66), 1.15 (0.98?1.67) for Mindiari, Rejaf and Roton respectively. Both the median seed species richness and diversity were not significantly different among the study wetlands. The median of seed density (56.1) was significantly higher in Roton than in Mindiari (36.7) and Rejaf (29.4) wetlands. The NMDS results showed that species composition of Mindiari and Rejaf was different from Roton. It is concluded that growing crops in wetlands did not influence species richness and diversity but it reduced seed density and altered species composition. Although wetland species were not significantly different in the three-wetland categories, dominance of canopy species belonging to Typhaceae and Cyperaceae indicates that these species are resilient to cultivation and could facilitate natural regeneration of cultivated wetlands edges of the Sudd region in Juba. Further research should examine effect of cultivation duration and flooding regimes on soil seed bank species richness, diversity, and density and composition.

scholarly journals ¿Qué ocurre con el banco de semillas del suelo 17 años después del corte de la vegetación?

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Brasil Mendes ◽  
Kleber Andrade da Silva ◽  
Danielle Melo dos Santos ◽  
Josiene Maria Falcão Fraga dos Santos ◽  
Ulysses Paulino De Albuquerque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Mature Forest ◽  
Young Forest

Seed banks play an important role in the resilience of potential anthropogenic areas and are influenced by seasonal variation. The spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the forests influences the richness and density of the soil seed bank, but there is a hypothesis that such influence can be changed in anthropogenic areas, where we expect to find lower richness and seed density in relation to the seed bank of mature forests. The richness and seasonal density of seeds in the soil depth of a young caatinga forest, 17 years after an agricultural activity was abandoned, were evaluated and compared with those of a mature forest. The study was conducted at the Instituto Agronômico de Pernambuco - IPA (Estação Experimental José Nilson de Melo), located in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil, in an area of tropical dry forest, known locally as “caatinga”. The local climate is seasonal, the dry season occurring from September to February and the rainy season concentrated in the remaining months. The average annual rainfall over time (time series of 30 years) is 692mm. In each climatic season (rainy and dry), the seed bank was sampled in 210 20x20cm plots (105 in the leaf litter and 105 at 5cm soil depth). The richness and seed density of the soil samples were evaluated by the method of seedling emergence. The seed bank had 47 species, with a predominance of herbaceous plants. Seasonal variation in richness and seed density in the soil (leaf litter + soil) was not significant, but 42 species of the mature forest were absent from the seed bank of the young forest, despite 17 years of natural regeneration and its proximity to the mature forest. On its own, the soil has greater richness and density of seeds than the leaf litter. The depth of seed deposition in the soil bank of the young forest significantly explained 36% of the species richness and 16% of the seed density, with a significant interaction effect with the climatic season only on species richness, explaining 4% of the variation recorded. The seed density of the young forest (1 277seeds/m<sup>2</sup>) was greater than that the mature forest indicating that the time abandoned had not yet been sufficient for complete recovery of plant diversity and there is no longer any seed limitation of pioneer species for regeneration of the young forest.

The effects of recreation disturbance on subalpine seed banks in the Rocky Mountains of Montana

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 577-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Zabinski ◽  
Todd Wojtowicz ◽  
David Cole
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Soil Cores ◽  
Bare Ground ◽  
Recreation Impacts ◽  
Natural Revegetation ◽  
Site Types

We investigated the soil seed bank in a subalpine ecosystem with patchy disturbance from camping. Soil cores were collected from three site types, heavily impacted, lightly impacted, and undisturbed, that differed in area of bare ground and depth of surface organic matter. We hypothesized that the density and composition of the seed bank would vary with depth of surface organic matter and distance from established vegetation. Seedling emergence was determined in the greenhouse. Seed density was significantly lower on disturbed sites, averaging 441 seeds/m2 on heavily impacted sites, 1495 seeds/m2 on lightly impacted sites, and 4188 seeds/m2 on undisturbed sites. Seed density declined exponentially with distance from established vegetation and increased with depth of surface organic matter. The number of species present did not vary across site types, but 10 species that occurred on lightly impacted and undisturbed sites were not present on heavily impacted sites. We concluded that disturbance that causes removal of surface organic matter can affect natural revegetation by lowering the density of propagules and affecting the species represented in the seed bank.Key words: seed bank, subalpine, patchy disturbance, recreation impacts.

scholarly journals Seed Rain, Soil Seed Bank, and Seedling Emergence Indicate Limited Potential for Self-Recovery in a Highly Disturbed, Tropical, Mixed Deciduous Forest

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1391
Author(s):  
Anussara Chalermsri ◽  
La-aw Ampornpan ◽  
Witoon Purahong
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Seed Rain ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Mixed Deciduous Forest ◽  
Standing Vegetation

Human activity negatively affects the sustainability of forest ecosystems globally. Disturbed forests may or may not recover by themselves in a certain period of time. However, it is still unclear as to what parameters can be used to reasonably predict the potential for self-recovery of human-disturbed forests. Here, we combined seed rain, soil seed bank, and seed emergence experiments to evaluate the potential for self-recovery of a highly disturbed, tropical, mixed deciduous forest in northeastern Thailand. Our results show a limited potential for self-recovery of this forest due to low seedling input and storage and an extremely high mortality rate during the drought period. There were 15 tree species of seedlings present during the regeneration period in comparison with a total number of 56 tree species in current standing vegetation. During the dry season, only four tree seedling species survived, and the highest mortality rate reached 83.87%. We also found that the correspondence between the combined number of species and composition of plant communities obtained from seed rain, soil seed bank, and seedling emergence experiments and the standing vegetation was poor. We clearly show the temporal dynamics of the seed rain and seedling communities, which are driven by different plant reproductive phenology and dispersal mechanisms, and drought coupled with mortality. We conclude that this highly disturbed forest needs a management plan and could not recover by itself in a short period of time. We recommend the use of external seed and seedling supplies and the maintenance of soil water content (i.e., shading) during periods of drought in order to help increase seedling abundances and species richness, and to reduce the mortality rate.

The Relationship Between Distance From Water and the Soil Seed Bank in a Grazed Semi-Arid Subtropical Rangeland

1996 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 421 ◽  
Author(s):  
SC Navie ◽  
RA Cowley ◽  
RW Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Pressure Gradients ◽  
Standing Vegetation ◽  
Open Woodland ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Germinable Seed ◽  
Eucalyptus Populnea ◽  
Semi Arid

The germinable soil seed bank of a grassy Eucalyptus populnea F.Muell, open woodland was investigated in relationship to distance from water (away from a bore-drain) on North Yancho Station, near Bollon in southern semi-arid Queensland. The germinable soil seed bank was both diverse and abundant, 69 taxa of seedlings being identified to species and 2 more to genus. A mean density of 13 207 ± 4160 seeds m-2 was recorded, with over 80% of the seed being from the annual forbs Crassula sieberana (Schultes & J.H.Shultes) Druce, Wahlenbergia tumidifructa P.J.Smith and Dysphania gomulifera (Nees) Paul G.Wilson. Most common species showed spatial variation in their germinable seed density with relation to distance from water, resembling the patterns previously reported by other authors for standing vegetation under stocking pressure gradients.

scholarly journals Changes in the Weed Seed Bank in Long-Term Establishment Methods Trials under Rice-Wheat Cropping System

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Prashant Sharma ◽  
Manoj Kumar Singh ◽  
Kamlesh Verma ◽  
Saroj Kumar Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Weed Seed ◽  
Design Factor

The rice–wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains is the backbone of food security in India. In the 1990s, due to the scarcity of resources, the traditional Crop Establishment (CE) method shifted from Conventional Till Puddle Transplanted Rice (CTPTR) to CT Direct Seeded Rice (CTDSR) and Zero-Till DSR (ZTDSR) in paddy; and in wheat, from Conventional Till Wheat (CTW) to Zero Till Wheat (ZTW), with residue retention in rice (RRR) or in both rice and wheat (RRRW). Shift in CE methods led to change in Weed Seed Bank (WSB) dynamics and ultimately affected the weed management program. After five years of field trials, soil samples were drawn as per 2-factors factorial randomized block design. Factor-I comprised 4-CE methods, whereas factor-II consisted of 3-soil depths (0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm). Results showed CTPTR-CTW and ZTDSR-ZTW (RRRW) record the highest seed bank (SB) of grasses, sedges and BLWs as total weeds, in general; and predominant weeds like Echinochloa spp., Ammania baccifera, Commelina benghalensis and Digitaria sanguinalis, in particular. It also showed the higher species richness (DMg) and Shannon–Weaver (H’) indices. CTDSR-CTW and CTDSR-ZTW (RRR) show the lowest WSB and at par with Shannon–Weaver (H’) index; further, lowest species richness (DMg) under CTDSR-CTW. Species Evenness (J’) and Simpson index (λ) vary non-significantly with CE methods. Furthermore, 0–10 cm soil depth showed the highest SB of different category of total weed, predominant weeds as well as higher values of DMg, H’, and λ; whereas reverse trend was observed in Whittaker Statistic (βW). Interaction between CE methods and soil depth revealed most of WSB lying on the top layer in case of ZTDSR-ZTW (RRRW) and CTDSR-ZTW (RRR); while CTPTR-CTW showed almost uniform WSB distribution, and in case of CTDSR-CTW, a gradual decrease in WSB with soil depth.

Impact of sheep grazing on the soil seed bank of a managed ephemeral wetland: implications for management

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Nicol ◽  
Sally Muston ◽  
Paula D'Santos ◽  
Bernard McCarthy ◽  
Sylvia Zukowski
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Typha Domingensis ◽  
Ephemeral Wetland ◽  
Cuscuta Campestris

The seed bank is an important mechanism for the persistence of species in ephemeral wetlands, but grazing by domestic stock may change the seed bank and in turn the capacity of the system to recover from disturbance. The sediments of two areas in Thegoa Lagoon (Murray–Darling Basin), one area grazed by sheep when dry and the other ungrazed, were examined. The objective of the study was to determine whether and how the (1) germinable seed bank and (2) final plant communities differ between the grazed and ungrazed areas. The seed banks were subjected to one of the following three water depths: 5 cm above the surface of the water, 5 cm below the surface and 50 cm below the surface. The composition of the seed bank was determined by using the seedling-emergence technique for 12 weeks, with seedlings removed every 2 weeks. The final plant communities were determined at 12 weeks without removing seedlings. The seed bank from the grazed area had a significantly lower seed density (5600 ± 593 seeds m–2) and species richness (7 species) than the ungrazed area (37 683 ± 4492 seeds m–2, 16 species) (ANOVA: F1, 10 = 50.16, P < 0.0001). The floristic composition of the seed bank was also significantly different between the areas (NPMANOVA: F1, 10 = 15.44, P = 0.0032). Glinus lotoides was in higher abundance in the grazed area and Alternanthera denticulata, Persicaria lapathifolium, Polygonum plebium, Typha domingensis and Centipeda cunninghamii in the ungrazed area. Similarly, the final communities derived from the grazed and ungrazed areas were significantly different from each other (NPMANOVA: F1, 10 = 15.53, P = 0.0032). Greater numbers of Centipeda cunninghamii were present in the community from the grazed area and Alternanthera denticulata and Cuscuta campestris were present in larger numbers in the community from the ungrazed area. Water depth also had an impact on germination; no germination occurred in seed banks flooded to 50 cm and one Typha domingensis seedling was observed in a sample flooded to 5 cm. These results showed that grazing reduces the density and species richness of the seed bank and in turn changes the plant communities derived from the seed bank; however, if grazing is removed pest plants such as Cuscuta campestris may require control. In addition, managed drawdown or water-level fluctuations are important in exposing wetland sediments and allowing for species to recruit from the seed bank.

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