Precipitation controls seed bank size and its role in alpine meadow community regeneration with increasing altitude

An, Hang; Zhao, Yunpeng; Ma, Miaojun

doi:10.1111/gcb.15260

Cited by 56 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Precipitation influences the success of sexual reproduction of plants and the size of the seed bank through seed input 26 , and it also affects soil pathogenic fungi, which cause seed mortality 27 . Therefore, precipitation has a strong effect on seed bank density, as reported for 27 alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau 28 . Our results further illustrate that PDQ and PDM are the key factors determining seed bank density worldwide, suggesting that moisture fluctuation in soils triggered by precipitation of the driest time of the year can affect seed bank density.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Global patterns of potential future plant diversity hidden in soil seed banks

Yang

Baskin

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

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Soil seed banks represent a critical but hidden stock for potential future plant diversity on Earth. Here we compiled and analyzed a global dataset consisting of 15,698 records of species diversity and density for soil seed banks in natural plant communities worldwide to quantify their environmental determinants and global patterns. Random forest models showed that absolute latitude was an important predictor for diversity of soil seed banks. Further, climate and soil were the major determinants of seed bank diversity, while net primary productivity and soil characteristics were the main predictors of seed bank density. Moreover, global mapping revealed clear spatial patterns for soil seed banks worldwide; for instance, low densities may render currently species-rich low latitude biomes (such as tropical rain-forests) less resilient to major disturbances. Our assessment provides quantitative evidence of how environmental conditions shape the distribution of soil seed banks, which enables a more accurate prediction of the resilience and vulnerabilities of plant communities and biomes under global changes.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Global patterns of potential future plant diversity hidden in soil seed banks

Yang

Baskin

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

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“…As a typical ecological fragile region, saline-alkaline stress is the main limiting factor of seed germination in the Songnen saline-alkaline grassland [27,47]. The soil seed bank is an essential part of degraded vegetation dynamics, which directly impacts the resilience of the ecosystem [48]. In nature, germination-promoting substances of smoke penetrate into soil with rain and stimulate the germination of seeds in the soil seed bank [49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire-Related Cues Significantly Promote Seed Germination of Some Salt-Tolerant Species from Non-Fire-Prone Saline-Alkaline Grasslands in Northeast China

Ooi

2021

Plants

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Seed germination in response to fire-related cues has been widely studied in species from fire-prone ecosystems. However, the germination characteristics of species from non-fire-prone ecosystems, such as the saline-alkaline grassland, where fire occasionally occurs accidentally or is used as a management tool, have been less studied. Here, we investigate the effects of different types of fire cues (i.e., heat and smoke water) and their combined effect on the seed germination of 12 species from the saline-alkaline grassland. The results demonstrated that heat shock significantly increased the germination percentage of Suaeda glauca and Kochia scoparia var. sieversiana seeds. Smoke water significantly increased the germination percentage of Setaria viridis and K. scoparia seeds. However, compared with single fire cue treatments, the combined treatment neither promoted nor inhibited seed germination significantly in most species. These results suggest that fire cues can be used as germination enhancement tools for vegetation restoration and biodiversity protection of the saline-alkaline grassland.

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“…In May 2019, the debris (stones, roots, litters etc.) in the dry seed bank samples was removed via sieving through a coarse (4 mm) and then a fine (0.2 mm) mesh sieve (An et al, 2020; Ma et al, 2020). We used the seedling germination method to determine the viable seed bank properties (species richness, seed density and species composition; ter Heerdt et al, 1996).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each newly emerged seedling was identified and recorded to species level daily from mid‐May to mid‐October in 2018 (transient seed bank) and mid‐May to mid‐October in 2019 (persistent seed bank), until no new seedlings appeared. All identified seedlings were removed from the trays to prevent competition with newly emerging seedlings (An et al, 2020; Ma et al, 2020). The soils were stirred after 4–6 weeks to expose any nongerminated seeds to light following cessation of the initial flush of germinating seeds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear response of the soil seed bank and its role in plant community regeneration with increased grazing disturbance

Baskin

2022

Journal of Applied Ecology

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The soil seed bank represents valuable rebuilding capital that may rescue an ecosystem from state transition once vegetation has crossed an apparent threshold from the desired to degraded state. However, almost no research has explored the response of transient and persistent seed banks and their role in plant community regeneration along a gradient of wetlands from intact to a seriously degraded state due to increased grazing disturbance. Seven grazing disturbance levels from nondisturbed to highly degraded alpine marsh ecosystems were selected on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to select the best‐fit model to predict the response of the plant community, soil seed bank and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index to increased grazing disturbance. Both the plant community and seed bank showed a nonlinear change with increasing grazing disturbance. Species richness and seed density of the transient seed bank first decreased and then increased with increased disturbance, but the persistent seed bank showed a reverse trend, with an obvious threshold. Species composition of the persistent and transient seed banks exhibited little change compared to the plant community as disturbance increased. Similarities between both the persistent and transient seed banks and plant community also showed a nonlinear change with increased disturbance, while the persistent seed bank had a higher similarity with the plant community than the transient seed bank. Synthesis: At high grazing disturbance, persistent seed banks are more important than transient seed banks in plant community regeneration. Alpine wetland ecosystems have intrinsic resilience because the persistent seed bank has a pool of species above the threshold. However, ecosystem resilience declines if the species pool of the persistent seed bank is depleted below the threshold. The restoration potential of the seed bank has limits, and it will gradually be exhausted when species losses due to increased grazing intensity exceed the threshold of state transition.

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Precipitation controls seed bank size and its role in alpine meadow community regeneration with increasing altitude

Cited by 56 publications

References 67 publications

Global patterns of potential future plant diversity hidden in soil seed banks

Global patterns of potential future plant diversity hidden in soil seed banks

Fire-Related Cues Significantly Promote Seed Germination of Some Salt-Tolerant Species from Non-Fire-Prone Saline-Alkaline Grasslands in Northeast China

Nonlinear response of the soil seed bank and its role in plant community regeneration with increased grazing disturbance

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