Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T08:42:37.733Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Soil seed banks in a mature coniferous forest landscape: dominance of native perennials and low spatial variability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

Scott R. Abella  and
Judith D. Springer
Scott R. Abella*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada89154-3064, USA
Judith D. Springer
Affiliation:
Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona86011-5017, USA
*
*Correspondence Email: scott.abella@unlv.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Soil seed banks are important to vegetation recruitment, ecosystem functioning and land management. We evaluated composition of 0–5 cm soil seed banks and relationships of seed banks with forest community types (ranging from low-elevation pinyon–juniper to high-elevation bristlecone pine), vegetation cover and environmental variables within a 40,000-ha relatively undisturbed coniferous forest landscape in Nevada, USA. We collected samples from 36 sites and used the emergence method to assay seed banks. Seed density averaged 479 seeds m− 2 across sites and a total of 39 taxa were detected. Most (79%) of these taxa were perennials and 35 of 39 (90%) were native. Moreover, 62% of seed-bank taxa were in the vegetation of mature forests, an uncommon finding in studies of forest soil seed banks. Seed-bank density, species richness and composition did not display strong relationships with forest community types, vegetation cover or environmental variables. Weak relationships likely arose from the relatively uniform seed-bank density among sites, where 50% of sites had seed densities in the range of 106–282 m− 2. Results suggest that while seed banks on this landscape are not large, they provide recruitment potential for some native perennial species of mature, relatively undisturbed communities.

Keywords

elevationenvironmental gradientMojave DesertSpring Mountainstexture
Type
Research Papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 207 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abella, S.R. and Springer, J.D. (2008) Estimating soil seed bank characteristics in ponderosa pine forests using vegetation and forest-floor data. Research Note RMRS-RN-35. Fort Collins, Colorado, US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.Google Scholar
Abella, S.R., Springer, J.D. and Covington, W.W. (2007) Seed banks of an Arizona Pinus ponderosa landscape: responses to environmental gradients and fire cues. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37, 552–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abella, S.R., Hurja, J.C., Merkler, D.J., Denton, C.W. and Brewer, D.G. (2012) Overstory–understory relationships along forest type and environmental gradients in the Spring Mountains of southern Nevada, USA. Folia Geobotanica 47, (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, E.A., Chambers, J.C. and Nowak, R.S. (2008) Effects of a spring prescribed burn on the soil seed bank in sagebrush steppe exhibiting pinyon-juniper expansion. Western North American Naturalist 68, 265–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashton, P.M.S., Harris, P.G. and Thadani, R. (1998) Soil seed bank dynamics in relation to topographic position of a mixed-deciduous forest in southern New England, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 111, 15–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakker, J.D., Rudebusch, F. and Moore, M.M. (2010) Effects of long-term livestock grazing and habitat on understory vegetation. Western North American Naturalist 70, 334–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakker, J.P., Poschlod, P., Strykstra, R.J., Bekker, R.M. and Thompson, K. (1996) Seed banks and seed dispersal: important topics in restoration ecology. Acta Botanica Neerlandica 45, 461–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds: ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Beers, T.W., Dress, P.E. and Wensel, L.C. (1966) Aspect transformation in site productivity research. Journal of Forestry 64, 691–692.Google Scholar
Benvenuti, S. (2007) Natural weed seed burial: effect of soil texture, rain and seed characteristics. Seed Science Research 17, 211–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bossuyt, B. and Hermy, M. (2001) Influence of land use history on seed banks in European temperate forest ecosystems: a review. Ecography 24, 225–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A.H.F. and Oosterhuis, L. (1981) The role of buried seed in coppicewoods. Biological Conservation 21, 19–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, R. (2004) Soil survey laboratory methods manual. Soil survey investigations report no. 42, version 4.0. US Natural Resources Conservation Service. Washington, DC, US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Chambers, J.C. (1995) Relationships between seed fates and seedling establishment in an alpine ecosystem. Ecology 76, 2124–2133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, J.C., Vander Wall, S.B. and Schupp, E.W. (1999) Seed and seedling ecology of piñon and juniper species in the pygmy woodlands of western North America. Botanical Review 65, 1–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Covington, W.W. and Moore, M.M. (1994) Postsettlement changes in natural fire regimes and forest structure: ecological restoration of old-growth ponderosa pine forests. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2, 153–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, R.P. and Miller, G.R. (2002) Altitudinal gradients in seed dynamics of Calluna vulgaris in eastern Scotland. Journal of Vegetation Science 13, 859–866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FEIS (2011) Fire effects information system. Missoula, Montana, US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ (accessed 14 December 2011).Google Scholar
Gotelli, N.J. and Colwell, R.K. (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecology Letters 4, 379–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, R.T., Jain, T.B. and Matthews, S. (2010) Fuel management in forests of the Inland West. pp. 19–68 in Elliot, W.J.; Miller, I.S.; Audin, L. (Eds) Cumulative watershed effects of fuel management in the western United States. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-231. Fort Collins, Colorado, US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.Google Scholar
Grime, J.P. (2001) Plant strategies, vegetation processes, and ecosystem properties. New York, John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Halpern, C.B., Evans, S.A. and Nielson, S. (1999) Soil seed banks in young, closed-canopy forests of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington: potential contributions to understory reinitiation. Canadian Journal of Botany 77, 922–935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hereford, R., Webb, R.H. and Longpre, C.I. (2006) Precipitation history and ecosystem response to multidecadal precipitation variability in the Mojave Desert region, 1893–2001. Journal of Arid Environments 67, 13–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jankowska-Blaszczuk, M. and Grubb, P.J. (1997) Soil seed banks in primary and secondary deciduous forest in Bialowietza, Poland. Seed Science Research 7, 281–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koniak, S. and Everett, R.L. (1982) Seed reserves in soils of successional stages of pinyon woodland. American Midland Naturalist 108, 295–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korb, J.E., Springer, J.D., Powers, S.R. and Moore, M.M. (2005) Soil seed banks in Pinus ponderosa forests in Arizona: clues to site history and restoration potential. Applied Vegetation Science 8, 103–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramer, N.B. and Johnson, F.D. (1987) Mature forest seed banks of three habitat types in central Idaho. Canadian Journal of Botany 65, 1961–1966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, N.L. and Halpern, C.B. (2007) The soil seed bank of a montane meadow: consequences of conifer encroachment and implications for restoration. Canadian Journal of Botany 85, 557–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lato, L.J. (2006) Soil survey of Clark County area, Nevada. US Natural Resources Conservation Service. Washington, DC, US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Laughlin, D.C. and Fulé, P.Z. (2008) Wildland fire effects on understory plant communities in two fire-prone forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 38, 133–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leckie, S., Vellend, M., Bell, G., Waterway, M.J. and Lechowicz, M.J. (2000) The seed bank in an old-growth, temperate deciduous forest. Canadian Journal of Botany 78, 181–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCune, B. (2007) Improved estimates of incident radiation and heat load using non-parametric regression against topographic variables. Journal of Vegetation Science 18, 751–754.Google Scholar
McCune, B. and Mefford, M.J. (1999) PC-ORD: multivariate analysis of ecological data. User's guide. Gleneden Beach, Oregon, MjM Software Design.Google Scholar
McNab, W.H. (1993) A topographic index to quantify the effect of mesoscale landform on site productivity. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 23, 1100–1107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niles, W.E. and Leary, P.J. (2007) Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of the Spring Mountains, Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada. Mentzelia 8, 1–72.Google Scholar
NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) (2011) The PLANTS database. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, National Plant Data Center, Available online at http://plants.usda.gov (accessed 14 December 2011).Google Scholar
NWCC (National Water and Climate Center) (2011) SNOTEL and SCAN data climate monitoring. Portland, Oregon, US Natural Resources Conservation Service, Available online at http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ (accessed 14 December 2011).Google Scholar
Olano, J.M., Caballero, I., Laskurain, N.A., Loidi, J. and Escudero, A. (2002) Seed bank spatial pattern in a temperate secondary forest. Journal of Vegetation Science 13, 775–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ortega, M., Levassor, C. and Peco, B. (1997) Seasonal dynamics of Mediterranean pasture seed banks along environmental gradients. Journal of Biogeography 24, 177–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratt, D.W., Black, R.A. and Zamora, B.A. (1984) Buried viable seed in a ponderosa pine community. Canadian Journal of Botany 62, 44–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, T.L. and Vankat, J.L. (1991) Floristics of a chronosequence corresponding to old field–deciduous forest succession in southwestern Ohio. II. Seed banks. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 118, 377–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute (2009) SAS/STAT 9.2 user's guide. Cary, North Carolina, SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Soil Survey Division Staff (1993) Soil survey manual. US Department of Agriculture Handbook No. 18. Washington, DC, US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Tan, K.H. (2005) Soil sampling, preparation, and analysis. Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, K. (1978) The occurrence of buried viable seeds in relation to environmental gradients. Journal of Biogeography 5, 425–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorne, R.F., Schoenherr, A.A., Clements, C.D. and Young, J.A. (2007) Transmontane coniferous vegetation. pp. 574–586 in Barbour, M.G.; Keeler-Wolf, T.; Schoenherr, A.A. (Eds) Terrestrial vegetation of California. Berkeley, University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warr, S.J., Thompson, K. and Kent, M. (1993) Seed banks as a neglected area of biogeographic research: a review of literature and sampling techniques. Progress in Physical Geography 1, 329–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warr, S.J., Kent, M. and Thompson, K. (1994) Seed bank composition and variability in five woodlands in south-west England. Journal of Biogeography 21, 151–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wienk, C.L., Sieg, C.H. and McPherson, G.R. (2004) Evaluating the role of cutting treatments, fire and soil seed banks in an experimental framework in ponderosa pine forests of the Black Hills, South Dakota. Forest Ecology and Management 192, 375–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winthers, E., Fallon, D., Haglund, J., DeMeo, T., Nowacki, G., Tart, D., Ferwerda, M., Robertson, G., Gallegos, A., Rorick, A., Cleland, D.T. and Robbie, W. (2005) Terrestrial ecological unit inventory technical guide. Washington, DC, US Forest Service.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wódkiewicz, M. and Kwiatkowska-Falińska, A.J. (2010) Similarity between seed bank and herb layer in a natural deciduous temperate lowland forest. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 79, 157–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar