Soil seed banks and the effects of meadow management on vegetation change in a 10‐year meadow field trial

Abstract

Summary1. Enhancement of plant species diversity is often an objective in grassland management for wildlife conservation. Such management regimes may also change the species composition of soil seed banks, which may themselves affect future vegetation change. We compared soil seed banks and vegetation from a long-term meadow management trial and from a series of traditionally managed species-rich meadows in northern England, UK. 2. The management trial used three hay-cut date treatments (14 June, 21 July and 1 September), two fertilizer treatments [no fertilizer or 25 kg nitrogen ha -1 plus 12·5 kg ha -1 phosphate (P2O5) and potash (K2O)] and two seed-addition treatments (no seed, seed of many species sown 1990-92). Soil seed banks were assessed in 1998. Subsequent vegetation development under these treatments, and under an additional farmyard manure treatment, was assessed in 2000. 3. Most seed was in the 0-5-cm soil layer and most of the frequent species germinated in the autumn. Short-and long-term persistent seed banks were most abundant. The species composition of the seed banks and the vegetation in the trial, and in the traditionally managed meadows used as a control, were distinctly different, the meadow trial seed bank being the most uniform.4. An ordination of simulated plant communities based on the UK National Vegetation Classification provided a wider framework for comparing vegetation and seed banks with the species composition of British meadow communities, some of which are also found in Europe. The soil seed banks throughout the meadow trial plots and the control fields were very similar in species composition to that of the vegetation in agriculturally improved meadows. However, there were many more species in the soil seed bank of the traditionally managed control meadows. 5. In 2000, only the seed-addition treatment increased the species richness of the vegetation. Farmyard manure and mineral fertilizer had similar effects, increasing the cover of Poa trivialis and Rumex acetosa and decreasing the cover of Rhinanthus minor and Anthoxanthum odoratum. 6. It was concluded that the development of the soil seed bank probably lags behind increases in vegetation diversity initiated by seed sowing. This emphasizes the need to introduce additional species as seed when increased diversity is a target for the restoration management of previously intensively managed grasslands.

Species trait shifts in vegetation and soil seed bank during fen degradation

“…Usually, seed densities in the upper soil layer are higher than in the lower layer (Thompson et al 1997;Smith et al 2002). We observed the opposite tendency in fens and degraded meadows.…”

Does delaying the first mowing date benefit biodiversity in meadowland?

“…Consequently, these data points could only be included in the MA assessing response ratio. Two suitable studies on seed shed and seed bank were also found, but not included because their very specific focus was too marginal with respect to our main research question [20,57]. There was no single study on birds that complied with our selection criteria.…”

“…Mowing vegetation at least once a year has a positive effect on vascular plant species richness, especially when cuttings are removed [17,18]. However, since it has been demonstrated that early-summer mowing often has a detrimental effect on species richness of flowering plants, as it hampers completion of the reproductive cycle [17], later mowing is generally found to be more favourable for vascular plant biodiversity [19,20].…”

Oral histories, farm practice and uncovering meaning in the countryside

“…While official estimates suggest that as many as 97% (NCC, 1984) The relevance of these locally-embedded understandings is highlighted when 'lost' hay meadows are considered. Pinpointing the previous location of hay meadows is crucial for the practice of reinstating hay meadows from former seed banks (see Smith et al 2002).…”