2 research outputs found
Density and richness of soil seed banks in loess grasslands
We studied the vegetation and seed banks in a Salvio-Festucetum loess grassland and in
and formerly grazed and then abandoned Cynodonti-Po毛tum loess pasture. We answered
the following questions: (i) How dense are the local seed banks? (ii) Which species of the
vegetation possess a seed bank? Soil samples were collected in early spring, 2010. Samples
were concentrated and treated using the seedling emergence method. Percentage cover of
vascular plants was recorded in twelve, 1-m
2
-sized plots in June, 2009. We found that the
mean densities of seed banks were similar in both grassland types (20,200 seeds/m2
in
Salvio-Festucetum and 22,800 seeds/m2
in Cynodonti-Po毛tum, respectively). Altogether, 94
species were detected both in vegetation and seed banks. In the pasture the species-poor
loess vegetation (a mean of 10.2 species/m2
) was characterised by the high cover of Festuca
rupicola (mean cover of 45%). Conversely, we detected significantly higher species richness
in Salvio-Festucetum grassland (t-test; p< 0.001, mean, 27 species/m2
). The seed bank was
characterised by common forbs (Hypericum perforatum 6,200 seeds/m2
, Galium verum
4,270 seeds/m2
, Achillea collina 2,100 seeds/m2
) and graminoid species (Poa angustifolia
1,060 seed/m2
, Carex stenopylla and C. praecox 2,480 seeds/m2
) in both grassland types.
Dense seed banks were typical for Conyza canadensis (6,760 seeds/m2
) and Veronica persica
(1,215 seeds/m2
). Most of the characteristic species of loess grasslands possessed only
sparse seed banks (e.g. Salvia austriaca, S. nemorosa, Pimpinella saxifraga, Medicago
falcata). Our results suggest that the seed bank can have only a limited role in maintaining
species diversity in loess grasslands