Persistent soil seed banks in old‐growth Hyrcanian Box tree (<i>Buxus hyrcana</i>) stands in northern Iran

Asadi, Hamed; Hosseini, Seyed Mohsen; Esmailzadeh, Omid; Baskin, Carol C.

doi:10.1007/s11284-011-0865-9

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In herbaceous layer, Whittaker nested plot sampling and minimal area method were used to survey the percentage cover of each herbaceous species according to the Braun-Blanquet scale (Mueller-Dombois, Ellenberg, 1974). Then, Flora Iranica (Rechinger 1989), Flora of Turkey (Davis 1970), Flora of Iran and the Colourful Flora of Iran (Ghahreman 1978) were used to identify dried species (Asadi et al 2011). As for soil sampling in each plot, four soil samples were randomly taken from 0-30 cm depth of mineral soil, and after mixing one compositesoil sample was prepared (approximately 500 g) (Salehi et al 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation cover under different altitudinal gradient, western Hyrcanean forest, north of Iran

Pourbabaei¹,

Salehi²,

Ebrahimi³

et al. 2020

J. For. Sci.

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This study was done to quantify the amount of soil organic matter and to evaluate physicochemical properties and vegetation cover changes along the altitudinal gradient. Nine altitudinal transects were selected from 100 m a.s.l. to 1 700 m a.s.l. Then, 160 circular plots of 1 000 m2 area with a distance of 150 m from each other were studied. Soil texture, bulk density, particle density, soil base saturation, phosphorus and potassium values did not indicate any specific variation pattern. Whereas pH decreased powerfully, the highest and the lowest value of pH was measured at 100 m a.s.l. and 1 700 m a.s.l., respectively. Soil organic carbon content increased significantly with increasing altitude (P ≤ 0.01). Density of trees decreased dramatically from 100 to 900 m a.s.l., whereas this trend was ascending from 1 100 to 1 700 m a.s.l. Density of shrub species increased with increasing altitude along the gradient and the highest value was revealed at 1 300 m a.s.l. The highest percentage of herbaceous species cover was found at a lower altitude and a decreasing trend was found along the altitudinal gradient.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation cover under different altitudinal gradient, western Hyrcanean forest, north of Iran

Pourbabaei¹,

Salehi²,

Ebrahimi³

et al. 2020

J. For. Sci.

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“…2), and Pielou's evenness index (E; Eq. 3) (Asadi et al, 2012) were used to evaluate the species diversity of soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation for each quadrat.…”

Section: Plant Species Diversity Indicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of soil seed banks at different geomorphic positions within the longitudinal sand dunes of the Gurbantunggut Desert, China

Jia

Tiyip

et al. 2017

J. Arid Land

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Understanding the characteristics of soil seed banks in sand dunes is crucial to stabilize the dune systems and maintain the plant populations in deserts. In this study, we conducted a survey investigation in the field and a seed germination experiment in the laboratory to explore the characteristics of soil seed banks at various geomorphic positions of longitudinal sand dunes in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China. Totally, 17 plant species belonging to 17 genera and 9 families were identified in soil seed banks, and 35 plant species belonging to 34 genera and 17 families were identified in aboveground vegetation. Plant species richness in soil seed banks decreased with increasing soil depth. The highest species richness was presented in the upper slope of the windward slope and the lowest species richness was presented in the base of the windward slope. There was no significant difference in seed density of soil seed banks among the examined seven geomorphic positions. The highest seed density occurred in the lower slope of the leeward slope while the lowest occurred in the crest. Moreover, seed density decreased with increasing soil depth, being the highest in the upper soil layer (0-2 cm). For both soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation, there was no significant difference in Simpson's diversity index among the seven geomorphic positions; however, Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Pielou's evenness index showed significant differences among the seven geomorphic positions. Those results showed that although there was no significant difference in seed density of soil seed banks among the seven geomorphic positions, the geomorphic positions significantly affected the species richness, diversity and distribution of soil seed banks. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of soil seed banks at different geomorphic positions of sand dunes is essential to vegetation restoration or reestablishment. Furthermore, the Jaccard's similarity coefficients of plant species between soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation at the seven geomorphic positions were low, suggesting that vegetation restoration or reestablishment processes should be promoted through adding seeds to surface layers.

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“…Viable seeds of those species may not accumulate in the soil, because of a greater risk of mortality -by recalcitrance (oak acorns) as well as by predation by animals (Lambers et al, 2005), or because virtually all viable seeds germinated in the spring (Esmailzadeh et al, 2011). A previous study in the Hyrcanian forest also showed that all the species that were either recorded only in the above-ground vegetation and absent from seed bank, or abundant in the vegetation but rare in the seed bank were tress and long-lived perennials (Asadi et al, 2012). Surprisingly, Trifolium angustifolium was never found in the above-ground vegetation of the study area but found in the seed bank of all the three habitats.…”

Section: The Relationship Between the Soil Seed Bank And Above-groundmentioning

confidence: 97%

Comparison of soil seed banks of habitats distributed along an altitudinal gradient in northern Iran

Erfanzadeh

Kahnuj

Azarnivand

et al. 2013

Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants

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In this study we investigated the variations in soil seed banks along an altitudinal gradient in the Alborz Mountains, Iran, covering three habitats from lower to upper altitudes: forest, forest-subalpine grassland ecotone and subalpine meadow. In each habitat from 1850 to 2400 m, 20 quadrats were established along four transects, and the above-ground vegetation and the germinable seed banks were determined. Results show that the similarity between seed bank and vegetation was lowest in the ecotone located at intermediate altitudes.Together with the contrasting highest density and species diversity of seeds at these altitudes, the ecotonal role of this habitat was confirmed.We found evidence that lower altitudes could act as storage for seeds of some species growing at higher altitudes; the role of the ecotone was more prominent as a reserve for the meadow plant seeds than the role of the forest as a reserve for seeds of the meadow and ecotone habitats. Soil seed banks, particularly from the ecotone, can be used for restoring vegetation in some degraded sites.

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Persistent soil seed banks in old‐growth Hyrcanian Box tree (Buxus hyrcana) stands in northern Iran

Cited by 7 publications

References 42 publications

Variations of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation cover under different altitudinal gradient, western Hyrcanean forest, north of Iran

Variations of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation cover under different altitudinal gradient, western Hyrcanean forest, north of Iran

Characteristics of soil seed banks at different geomorphic positions within the longitudinal sand dunes of the Gurbantunggut Desert, China

Comparison of soil seed banks of habitats distributed along an altitudinal gradient in northern Iran

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