Does aboveground vegetation composition resemble soil seed bank during succession in specialized vegetation on gypsum soil?

Abstract

This paper evaluates the aboveground vegetation in relation to the soil seed bank throughout a 60-year succession process following agricultural abandonment in a semi-arid Mediterranean gypsum habitat. There is little information regarding the relationship between these two community components in the context of succession on semi-arid gypsum soils. Aboveground vegetation and the corresponding seed bank of gypsum plant communities were sampled through a chronosequence of 24 abandoned fields. Generalized linear models were used to model seed species richness and density, redundancy analyses to model the effect of time since abandonment and the effect of soil physicochemical parameters on seed bank species composition, and Mantel tests to analyze resemblance between aboveand belowground species composition. In this last case, the effect of time since abandonment was controlled using a partial Mantel test. Mantel correlograms using time intervals instead of distances were used to describe the resemblance of above-to belowground species occurrence in different aged fields. No significant variability in seed species richness, seed density, or species composition due to time since abandonment was found. Differences in seed species composition were mainly due to small spatial scale predictors such as slope and soil calcium content. High correlations between species composition in the soil seed bank and the aboveground vegetation were detected during succession. The lack of a significant trend in aboveground species replacement over time was also reflected in seed bank composition. We concluded that the rapid establishment of strict gypsophyte species relied mainly on the long-term persistence of these species in the seed bank.

Plant life on gypsum: a review of its multiple facets

“…Furthermore, time since abandonment is not related to changes in soil chemical composition or significant nutrient shifts along succession. Gypsum specialists can establish from the soil seed bank (Martínez‐Duro et al , ) or arrive by secondary dispersal from well‐conserved fragments remaining in the vicinity, since primary dispersal is usually very inefficient (Olano, Caballero & Escudero, ). This agrees with the findings that gypsum soil seed banks act as mid‐term temporal reservoirs that refill and recover initial vegetation over very short time periods (Olano et al , ).…”

Relationships between vegetation and seed bank in sand pits: Effects of different restoration approaches and successional age

“…Moreover, some species do not form a persistent seed bank (Fenner, 1992). The result that many species conspicuous in the vegetation were underrepresented in or absent from the seed bank is a common phenomenon as reported, for example, by Granstrom (1988), Miller and Cummins (2003); Török, Matus, Papp, andTóthmérész (2009), andMartinez-Duro et al (2012).…”

“…The seed bank, on the other hand, was represented predominantly by annual species, which typically produce large amounts of persistent seeds able to survive for decades in the ground waiting for the right conditions for germination (Thompson et al, 1997). The dominance of annual species, and the lack of perennials and woody species in the seed bank, is typical of most studies dealing with seed banks in the temperate zone, for example, Warr, Thompson, and Kent (1993) or Martinez-Duro et al (2012).…”

“…Examination and a deeper understanding of the seed bank and its relationships to above-ground vegetation is an important part of restoration processes, because differences in seed bank formation may change the future development of vegetation composition (González-Alday et al, 2009). Consequently, an analysis of the seed bank may predict future trajectories of vegetation development (Fenner, 1992) and suggest a possible manipulation of the restoration process (Martinez-Duro, Luzuriaga, Ferrandis, Escudero, & Herranz, 2012). It may also indicate which vegetation will develop in case of subsequent unintended disturbances of a site.…”

Soil seed bank dynamics in response to an extreme flood event in a riparian habitat

“…Yet, knowledge of the above-and below-ground processes of riparian corridors is essential for better conservation and management of this fragile ecosystem. Viable soil seed banks facilitate plant community dynamics by providing species persistence in a dormant state until suitable conditions for their germination and establishment occur (Roberts 1981;Baskin and Seeds 2001;Martinez-Duro et al 2011).…”