The effect of shrub community on understory soil seed bank with and without livestock grazing

Erfanzadeh, Reza; Barzegaran, Fatemeh; Amoli, Siroos Saber; Pétillon, Julien

doi:10.1007/s42974-021-00074-3

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In total, we found a relatively low number of seeds in the study area (2383 seeds/m 2 ). The overall number of seeds was surprisingly low when compared to our previous studies in the lower elevations in the Alborz Mountain Chain (Erfanzadeh et al, 2020: 9737 seeds/m 2 , Erfanzadah et al, 2022: 5560 seeds/m 2 ) and other grasslands (e.g., Toth & Huse, 2014: 22800 seeds/m2, Li et al, 2020: 3946 seeds/m 2 ). This seems to be a characteristic of alpine environments, in which less reliance on seed banks for reproduction (in favour of clonal strategies) can be related to the short vegetative period due to harsh conditions such as low temperature and, clonal life strategies stabilize plant communities over very long periods (Körner & Hiltbrunner, 2021).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…SSB determines essential ecological processes by maintaining biodiversity (Lee & Marrs, 2021) and recovery of damaged plant communities (Mohammed & Denboba, 2020). Nevertheless, the spatial and temporal variation of SSBs, their densities and composition changes when accompanied by disturbances are not fully understood in ecosystems (Erfanzadah et al, 2022), particularly in some sensitive habitats such as alpine grasslands. Bare soil small gabs created by livestock grazing (Erfanzadeh et al, 2016) or moles (Schiffers et al, 2010) are often re‐colonized by external seed introduction or lateral expansion (mostly vegetative growth) of plants with little contribution from SSBs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of wild boar disturbances on the soil seed bank in alpine plant communities

2022

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Soil seed bank (SSB) determines essential ecological processes by maintaining species diversity and recovering damaged plant communities, and supports conservation of lost plant species. Nevertheless, the variation of SSBs, their densities, and composition changes when accompanied by wild boar disturbances are scarcely studied in sensitive habitats such as alpine grasslands. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of wild boar rooting on SSB characteristics. Five plant communities were selected and four disturbed patches in each community were recognized in alpine grassland, Albors Mountain Chain, Iran. SSB density, richness, diversity, evenness and similarity with aboveground vegetation were compared between disturbed and adjacent undisturbed patches. In total 80 soil cores in each community, 40 disturbed and 40 undisturbed were collected and transported to the greenhouse. The seedling emergence method was used to identify and quantify seeds from the germinable seed bank. The results showed that, totally, the SSB within disturbed patches was smaller than in undisturbed patches. Wild boar (Sus scrofa) rooting decreased SSB density, richness and diversity in all plant communities. We found that rooting homogenized SSBs in disturbed patches as indicated by the Pielou evenness index. The results suggested a deep alteration of the structure of seed banks by wild boar rooting, which in turn, vegetation recovery did not rely on SSBs after disturbances. In order to reduce wild boar rooting damage, a large reduction in wild boar abundance is suggested.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of wild boar disturbances on the soil seed bank in alpine plant communities

2022

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Long-term active restoration of degraded grasslands enhances vegetation resilience by altering the soil seed bank

Guo

Sang

Huang

et al. 2023

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Long-term active restoration is often employed to restore degraded grasslands. The establishment of a viable soil seed bank is the key to successful restoration, as it enhances the resilience of vegetation. However, little is known of how the soil seed bank affects vegetation resilience following long-term active restoration of degraded grasslands. We determined seed abundance and species composition of the soil seed bank and soil properties and vegetation resilience of intact, degraded, and long-term (>10 years) actively restored grasslands on the Tibetan plateau (3900–4200 m a.s.l.). The plant-soil-seed bank quality index and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to assess the effect of the soil seed bank on vegetation resilience. After long-term (>10 years) active restoration of degraded grasslands by sowing seeds of native plant species, the densities of transient and persistent seeds increased by 5%, but seed richness (number of species) decreased by 25% when compared with degraded grasslands. This occurred largely as a result of an increase in grass but decrease in forb seeds. Persistent seeds of grasses play an important role in the productivity of restored grasslands, while the density of persistent seeds serves as an indicator of the resilience of vegetation. A combination of the plant community and soil properties determined seed density. Here, we show for the first time that long-term active restoration enhances vegetation resilience of grasslands by altering the soil seed bank. A high seed density of sown Gramineae and a low seed density of forbs in the soil seed bank is a key to the successful active restoration of degraded grasslands.

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Soil seed banks along a woody plant removal gradient in a semi-arid savanna of South Africa: Implications for restoration

et al. 2023

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The effect of shrub community on understory soil seed bank with and without livestock grazing

Cited by 9 publications

References 38 publications

Effect of wild boar disturbances on the soil seed bank in alpine plant communities

Effect of wild boar disturbances on the soil seed bank in alpine plant communities

Long-term active restoration of degraded grasslands enhances vegetation resilience by altering the soil seed bank

Soil seed banks along a woody plant removal gradient in a semi-arid savanna of South Africa: Implications for restoration

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