The effects of different types of woodstand disturbance on the persistence of soil seed banks

Abstract

The research was conducted on four patches of thermophilous oak wood in Białowieża Primeval Forest: Awith a woodstand: oak + approx. 30-year-old hornbeam + hornbeam brushwood; B -with a hornbeam stand formed by natural seed fall after logging (ca. 1920) oaks; C -after logging oaks and replanted (ca. 1965) with pine and oak; D -with a natural low-density oak stand. Species composition and seed bank density were estimated using the seedling emergence method. Seedling emergence was observed over two vegetation seasons. Research demonstrated that: 1) the species abundance of the seed banks depends on canopy cover (A, B approx. 50 species; C, D approx. 70 species); 2) the floristical similarity (Sørensen's index) of the seed bank and ground vegetation is higher in the undisturbed patch D (0.50) than in disturbed patches (0.30-0.35); 3) species diversity in plots A, B, C, D (H'=12.5; 13.4; 15.5; 16.9) and seed bank density per m 2 (432.5; 958.0; 1486.5; 2268.0) are negatively correlated with the degree of patch shading; 4) the average weight of diaspores in the seed banks of shady plots is lower (A, B approx. 0.003 g) than that of sunny plots (C, D approx. 0.08 g); 5) the share of long-lived diaspores increases in patches after logging.

A seed bank inside a clonal plant: the case of the sedge Carex cespitosa on an unmowed grassland

“…The seed bank becomes activated when the vegetation structure is disrupted (Grubb 1977;Harper 1977;Grime 1979), but some of these disturbances are also known to affect the relationship between floristic composition and the soil seed bank (Eriksson and Eriksson 1997;Erkilla 1998;Tapias et al 2001;Touzard et al 2002;Eriksson 2005;Cox and Allen 2008;Dolan et al 2008;Fourie 2008;Miao and Zou 2009;Kwiatkowska-Falińska et al 2011). Seed banks deposited inside necromass or plant tussocks might be less affected by disturbances and might provide a more accurate record of seed deposition through time (Symonides 1986;Willems 1995;Kalamees and Zobel 1997;Grandin and Rydin 1998;Leck and Leck 1998;Bekker et al 2000;Leicht-Young et al 2009).…”

“…Seed banks deposited inside necromass or plant tussocks might be less affected by disturbances and might provide a more accurate record of seed deposition through time (Symonides 1986;Willems 1995;Kalamees and Zobel 1997;Grandin and Rydin 1998;Leck and Leck 1998;Bekker et al 2000;Leicht-Young et al 2009). Seed reserves in sedge tussocks, for example, might provide a more accurate representation of the process of local vegetation development than those in disturbed soil (Łaska 2001;Touzard et al 2002;Lu et al 2010;Kwiatkowska-Falińska et al 2011). However, seed banks in tussocks have seldom been studied (Weiterová 2008).…”

Winter supplementary feeding influences forest soil seed banks and vegetation

“…Such resources of viable seeds stored in the soil constitute a soil seed bank, which may allow natural restoration of degraded or destroyed plant communities (Pakeman & Small ; Bossuyt & Honnay ; Kwiatkowska‐Falińska et al. ), but also may pose a threat of ecosystem degradation if seeds of invasive species are deposited in it. Due to seed longevity, soil seed banks may have delayed effect on ecosystems, shifted in time for decades (Thompson et al.…”