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The impact of groundwater level on soil seed bank survival

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

R. M. Bekker ,
M. J. M. Oomes  and
J. P. Bakker
R. M. Bekker*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Plant Ecology, University of Groningen, PO Box 14, NL-9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands
M. J. M. Oomes
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Agrobiology and Soil Fertility (AB-DLO), PO Box 14, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
J. P. Bakker
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Plant Ecology, University of Groningen, PO Box 14, NL-9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands
*
* Nomenclature of vascular plants after Van der Meijden (1990) +31 50 3632273 E-mail R.M.Bekker@BIOL.RUG.NL
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Abstract

Seed longevity of plant species is an important topic in restoration management, and little is known about the effects of environmental conditions on seed survival and longevity under natural conditions. Therefore, the effect of groundwater level on the survival of seeds in the soil seed bank of a natural grassland community was investigated. Large soil cores, mesocosms, were sampled from a grassland site and transferred to two basins under a glass roof. The mesocosms were subjected to different groundwater-level treatments (high and low, respectively 5 and 30 cm below the soil surface) for nearly three years. After that period the soil seed bank of the mesocosms was sampled. In total 15 789 seeds of 38 taxa emerged from the experiment. Significant differences between the number of viable seeds that emerged in the two treatments were found for several species. More seeds of Glyceria fluitans, Cardamine pratensis and Myosotis palustris germinated in the high water-level treatment, whereas fewer seeds of Juncus spp., Cerastium fontanum and Stellaria media were found in this treatment than in the low water-level treatment. The experiment showed that the anoxic conditions prevailing in the high water-level treatment were beneficial to the survival of seeds of species of wet grassland communities. Species of dry grasslands, although represented by only two species, survived better under aerobic conditions.

Keywords

germinationgrassesherbsmesocosmseed longevitysoil water level
Type
Ecology
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 1998 , pp. 399 - 404
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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