Vegetation development in dune slacks: the role of persistent seed banks

Abstract

Abstract. The soil seed bank composition was determined at four sites in the dune slack ‘Koegelwieck’ on the Dutch Wadden Sea island of Terschelling. At three different sites in the slack, where sod‐cutting experiments down to the mineral sand had been carried out, the established vegetation and seed bank were assessed after 5, 9 and 39 yr of undisturbed development, respectively. In addition, a fourth site in the slack was investigated, where vegetation development had proceeded for 80 yr since plant colonization of bare soil and where nowadays a vegetation dominated by Calamagrostis epigejos and Salix repens occurs. Together these four sites can be regarded as a chronosequence of dune slack formation. Clear time sequences were detected in the seed bank data. Many late successional species showed a significant increase in the number of seeds during the succession. Some of the early successional basiphilous pioneer species such as Anagallis minima, Centaurium littorale, Littorella uniflora, Radiola linoides and Samolus valerandi, showed either a decrease during the time of succession or an optimum in the vegetation while remaining present in the seed bank in low but detectable numbers. They could, therefore, play a role in re‐establishment of the vegetation after sod‐cutting. One of the target species, Schoenus nigricans, established within a few years after removal of the sod. However, no seeds of this species have been detected in the soil below either of the successional stages. Based on the species disappearance from the established vegetation and based on the independent data of Thompson et al. (1997) an estimation of seed longevity could be made for several Red List species of wet dune slacks.

Species shifts in above-ground vegetation and the soil seed bank in the inter-dune lowlands of an active dune field in Inner Mongolia, China

“…In addition, higher similarity between the soil seed bank and vegetation at earlier stages, as has been found in other studies (e.g. Plassmann et al, 2009;Bekker et al, 1999;van der Hagen et al, 2008), contributes to the conclusion that establishment of the vegetation could be facilitated by the soil seed bank. In later stages, the high seed density we found is similar to that of nearby inter-dune areas that had been enclosed for 10 years, as part of management efforts to reduce degradation (Zhao et al, 2006).…”

“…This latter result is the most commonly reported (e.g. Bekker, Lammerts, Schutter & Grootjans, 1999;Bossuyt & Hermy, 2004;Plassmann et al, 2009), in part because of the focus of studies on fixed dune areas.…”

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

“…In our study changes in the seed bank followed changes in the vegetation, which has also been reported by other authors (Bekker et al 1999) and (Wolters and Bakker 2002). In contrast to the common opinion about the low persistence of seed banks of forest species characterised by low and moderate light demands, their share in the soil seed bank of thermophilous oak wood is relatively constant (Jankowska-Błaszczuk et al 1998).…”

“…The seed longevity index (LI) was calculated for each species found in the seed bank using a method by Thompson et al (1997) and Bekker et al (1998Bekker et al ( , 1999.…”

The pattern of seed banks during secondary succession on poor soils

“…Species abundance and diaspore density in seed banks increase over time, while their longevity decreases [11,21,22]. The size and species composition of the seed bank in such a case reflect succession transformations in vegetation.…”