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Ecological relationships between seedling emergence and litter cover in the earliest stage of plant succession on sandy soil
Author(s) -
Nakamura Toshihiko
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/bf02347825
Subject(s) - ecological succession , seedling , perennial plant , litter , quadrat , primary succession , biology , agronomy , plant litter , ecology , secondary succession , vegetation (pathology) , plant community , plant cover , ecosystem , canopy , shrub , medicine , pathology
The relationships between seedling emergence and litter cover were studied in the earliest successional stage of a plant community. During a period of 3 years, changes in vegetation cover and species composition were assessed on three permanent quadrats with virgin sandy soil substrates A successional pattern from summer annual grasses to winter annual herbacoeus plants to biennial and perennial plants was confirmed, and invasion and replacement of the component species were conspicuous. The spatial distributions of seedlings and litter were heterogeneous in winter, and some patches consisting of both seedlings and litter were observed. There was a strong positive correlation between distribution patterns of seedlings and litter; seedling density increased with increasing litter cover. The results suggest that the litter cover of the previous stage plays an imporrant role in promoting successional changes in the early stage of plant succession.