Impact of Cardamom Cultivation on the Composition and Dynamics of Soil Seed Banks in a Conservation Forest in Sri Lanka: Implications for Conservation

Abstract

Cultivation of cash crops, such as cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) in the forest understorey is a common practice in many tropical forests. Over time, cultivation may change forest structure and species composition, leading to gradual degradation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Effective conservation of these forests requires an enhanced understanding of the demographic processes such as soil seed bank that may greatly influence future forest composition. We examined how the soil seed bank structure and composition responds to cardamom cultivation in a high conservation value Sri Lankan montane rain forest. Soil samples from natural forest with abandoned cardamom plantations (CP) and adjacent natural forest (NF) patches without cardamom were collected in dry and wet seasons. Soil samples were spread out in trays in a shade house and germination was recorded weekly for 19 weeks. The density of seeds in the soil seed bank was much higher in CP than NF. While grasses and forbs contributed the highest number and percentage of seeds in soils of both forest types, their densities in the soil seed bank were 9 and 2 times greater in the CP than the NF, respectively. Seeds of the nonnative herbs Ageratina riparia and E. cardamomum were 4 and 20 times greater in the soil of CP, respectively. Seeds of light demanding tree species such as

Spatial and temporal dynamics of two cacti seed banks in a xerophytic shrubland in Mexico City

“…Seed fate following seed ripening affects the regeneration of plant populations (Sarukhán 1974). After dispersal, some seeds remain in the soil, forming seed banks (Roberts 1981, Baker 1989, Baskin & Baskin 2014. Other seeds remain on or inside the mother plant, forming aerial seed banks, a process called "serotiny" (Barker et al 2004, Radeloff et al 2004, Battersby et al 2017.…”