scholarly journals Evaluation of Soil Seed Banks in Different Aged Caragana microphylla Plantation in Desert Steppe Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoqi Li ◽  
Shujun Li ◽  
Wenshan Shao ◽  
Yanyun Chen ◽  
Wang Yafang

Soil seed bank (SSB) represents potential plant communities, which is essential in the restoration of degraded ecosystems. Consequently, SSB is crucial in the reconstruction and recovery of aboveground plants because they largely determine the process and direction of vegetation restoration. SSB is also important indicators that can be used to evaluate the effects of management on degraded desert steppe. Here, field sampling and soil seed germination experiments were used to investigate the role of SSB in the recovery of degraded desert steppe. Results indicated that (1) the species composition of SSB and ground vegetation significantly differed in different aged Caragana microphylla plantation and control in the Yanchi County. (2) The abundance of SSB was significantly promoted by C. microphylla plantation. The average seed density in Caragana plantation SSB was 11248.75 m−2, which was 17 times than that of SSB in areas without C. microphylla plantation. (3) The ages of C. microphylla plantation were closely related to the composition and density of SSB.




2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 714-719
Author(s):  
Ming LI ◽  
De-ming JIANG ◽  
Yong-ming LUO ◽  
Xiu-mei WANG ◽  
Bo LIU ◽  
...  


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Wills ◽  
Jennifer Read

Various fire-related agents, including heat, smoke, ash and charred wood, have been shown to break dormancy and promote germination of soil-stored seed in a broad range of species in mediterranean-type systems. However, relatively little work has been conducted in south-eastern Australian heathlands. This study examined the effects of heat and smoked water on germination of the soil seed bank in a mature sand heathland within the Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park, in south-eastern Australia. Heat was clearly the most successful treatment for promoting seed germination, followed by smoked water, then controls, with 55% of species present in the germinable soil seed bank requiring a heat or smoke stimulus to promote seed germination. Mean species richness of the germinable soil seed bank was found to be significantly higher in heat-treated soil than in smoke and control treatments. Seedling density of heat-treated soil was almost 10 times that of controls, while smoke-treated soil was almost five times that of controls. Seedling emergence was fastest in heat-treated soil, followed by smoke and control soils. Of the species found in the soil seed bank, 25% were absent from the extant vegetation, suggesting the existence of post-fire colonisers in the soil seed bank. The results have implications for the design of soil seed bank experiments and the use of fire as a tool in vegetation management.



2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Wódkiewicz ◽  
Anna Justyna Kwiatkowska-Falińska

Forest seed banks mostly studied in managed forests proved to be small, species poor and not reflecting aboveground species composition. Yet studies conducted in undisturbed communities indicate a different seed bank characteristic. Therefore we aimed at describing soil seed bank in an undisturbed forest in a remnant of European lowland temperate forests, the Białowieża Forest. We compared similarity between the herb layer and seed bank, similarity of seed bank between different patches, and dominance structure of species in the herb layer and in the seed bank of two related oak-hornbeam communities. We report relatively high values of Sorensen species similarity index between herb layer and seed bank of both patches. This suggests higher species similarity of the herb layer and soil seed bank in natural, unmanaged forests represented by both plots than in fragmented communities influenced by man. Although there was a set of core seed bank species present at both plots, yielding high Sorensen species similarity index values, considerable differences between plots in seed bank size and dominance structure of species were found, indicating spatial variability of studied seed bank generated by edaphic conditions. Dominance structure of species in the herb layer was not reflected in the underlying seed bank. This stresses, that natural forest regeneration cannot rely only on the seed bank, although some forest species are capable of forming soil seed banks. While forest seed banks may not reflect vegetation composition of past successional stages, they may inform on history and land use of a specific plot.



Author(s):  
Ya-Fei Shi ◽  
Zengru Wang ◽  
Bing-Xin Xu ◽  
Jian-Qiang Huo ◽  
Rui Hu ◽  
...  

Soil seed banks may offer great potential for restoring and maintaining desert ecosystems that have been degraded by climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. However, few studies have explored the annual dynamics in the composition and relative abundance of these soil seed banks. We conducted a long-term observational study to assess the effects of environmental factors (meteorology and microtopography) and aboveground vegetation on the soil seed bank of the Tengger Desert, China. The desert seed bank was dominated by annual herbs. We found that more rainfall in the growing season increased the number of seeds in the soil seed bank, and that quadrats at relatively higher elevations had fewer seeds. The species composition had more similarity in the seed bank than in the aboveground vegetation, though the seed bank and aboveground vegetation did change synchronously due to the rapid propagation of annuals. Together, our findings suggest that the combined effects of environmental factors and plant life forms determine the species composition and size of soil seed banks in deserts. Thus, if degraded desert ecosystems are left to regenerate naturally, the lack of shrub and perennial herb seeds could crucially limit their restoration. Human intervention and management may have to be applied to enhance the seed abundance of longer-lived lifeforms in degraded deserts.



2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Djalma de Souza ◽  
Bruno Ayron de Souza Aguiar ◽  
Danielle Melo dos Santos ◽  
Vanessa Kelly Rodrigues de Araujo ◽  
Júlia Arruda Simões ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims In dry tropical forests, herbaceous species may have dormancy mechanisms and form persistent and transient seed banks in the soil. Evolutionarily acquired, these mechanisms are efficient for the establishment and survival of these herbs, especially in forests with unpredictable climates, such as the Caatinga. Thus, our objective was to verify whether the studied herbaceous species adopt the physical dormancy mechanism and how these natural barriers are overcome, to understand the temporal dynamics existing in the soil seed bank from a Brazilian dry tropical forest. Methods Seeds of five native herbaceous species from the Caatinga forests were selected and submitted to pre-germinative treatments for verifying the presence of physical dormancy. We collected soil samples in the rainy and dry seasons for four consecutive years and monitored the emergence of the selected herbaceous in the greenhouse. We verified the differences in germination and seed bank emergence in the soil by generalized linear models. Important Findings The presence and absence of physical dormancy were observed in seeds from Caatinga herbaceous species. We found intraspecific and interspecific differences in the herbaceous emergence from soil seed banks between years and climatic seasons. In perennial herbs, consecutive lack of emergence between seasons and years was frequent, which suggests a direct relationship with the mechanism of physical dormancy and the environmental conditions necessary to overcome integument barriers. In these species, seed dimorphism and dormancy may confer additional advantages to their survival. Moreover, presenting intermediate levels of physical dormancy in an annual species may be an evolutionary adjustment to rainfall unpredictability. In contrast, we found that the annual herb without dormancy is more sensitive to seasonal and interannual climate changes, as evidenced by the increase and significant reduction of its emergence in the soil seed bank. These differences acquired evolutionarily are advantageous for the establishment of herbaceous populations, mainly in semiarid regions with an unpredictable climate.



1990 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
AW Graham ◽  
MS Hopkins

The size and floristic composition of soil seed banks under four adjacent, unlogged and structurally different rainforest types were assessed by exposing 17 surface soil samples (to 40mm depth) to germination-house conditions. The mean size of the seed bank in the undisturbed forest types was 240 seeds m-2 (s.d. 139). Seeds of secondary species dominated the soil seed banks in all forest types, although weed seeds constituted only 0.6-4.0%. Some forest types had characteristic component secondary species in the buried seed bank. Agglomerative classification and multidimensional scaling analysis of quantitative sample data indicated that the parent structural-environmental forest type was the dominant influence in determining composition of the soil seed banks. Comparisons of the seed banks of the intact rainforest with those of nearby disturbed forests showed the former to be 35 to 50% smaller in total size, and lacking in some distinctive secondary species. It was concluded that disturbance, both within and adjacent to rainforest, may influence soil seed bank compositions, and hence future patterns of regeneration.



2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Gantuya Jargalsaikhan

In a case study, the main objective was to compare three sites with different grazing pressures in Hvitarsida, W-Iceland in relation to current vegetation, seed bank composition and the correlation between those. Our results show that there were significant difference in species composition in above and belowground, giving very little similarity in species composition between seed bank and current vegetation composition. The only exceptions were Agrostis capillaris and Bistorta vivipara that had close similarity between current aboveground vegetation and soil seed bank. Agrostis capillaris had a great abundance in all the sites and Bistorta vivipara proliferates mostly with bulbils that most likely were numerous in the soil. The results of our study agree with current theories on seed bank composition and similar studies,that the similarity between current above ground vegetation and soil seed bank depends on current dominant species (annual or perennial)and the productivity (high or low) of the site.Mongolian Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol.13(2) 2014: 105-113



2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Soltani ◽  
A. Soltani ◽  
S. Galeshi ◽  
F. Ghaderi-Far ◽  
E. Zeinali

Studies were conducted to estimate parameters and relationships associated with sub-processes in soil seed banks of oilseed rape in Gorgan, Iran. After one month of burial, seed viability decreased to 39%, with a slope of 2.03% per day, and subsequently decreased with a lower slope of 0.01 until 365 days following burial in the soil. Germinability remained at its highest value in autumn and winter and decreased from spring to the last month of summer. Non-dormant seeds of volunteer oilseed rape did not germinate at temperatures lower than 3.8 ºC and a water potential of -1.4 MPa ºd. The hydrothermal values were 36.2 and 42.9 MPa ºd for sub- and supra-optimal temperatures, respectively. Quantification of seed emergence as influenced by burial depth was performed satisfactorily (R² = 0.98 and RMSE = 5.03). The parameters and relationships estimated here can be used for modelling soil seed bank dynamics or establishing a new model for the environment.



2012 ◽  
Vol 364 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 229-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhan-Huan Shang ◽  
Bin Deng ◽  
Lu-Ming Ding ◽  
Guo-Hua Ren ◽  
Guo-Sheng Xin ◽  
...  


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