Open AccessLong-term changes in size and composition of seed bank during succession: from meadow to forest
Author(s) -
Krystyna Falińska
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta societatis botanicorum poloniae
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 2083-9480
pISSN - 0001-6977
DOI - 10.5586/asbp.1998.039
Subject(s) - ecological succession , soil seed bank , species richness , vegetation (pathology) , floristics , perennial plant , plant community , grazing , ecology , botany , biology , agronomy , seedling , medicine , pathology
Studies of the relation between the size and floristic composition of the seed bank and the vegetation during succession were conducted in the years 1976-1996. The results of the research did not confirm the hypothesis of directional changes in the density of seeds as the observed changes were of fluctuating nature. At the start of succession the seed bank was small (2970 seeds/m2), and in subsequent years the density of seeds increased successively to reach the highest level after 15 years (9170/m2 ), then dropped again. After 20 years the density of seeds reached the value recorded at the initial stage (2468/m2). Successional changes in floristic richness of seed bank were directional with the number of species falling from 52 to 24. All data indicate that the floristic composition of the seed bank is not a mirror reflection of the vegetation structure, but rather a record of a long-term turnover of species and many different events which in various periods of time influenced the inflow of seeds to the soil (spatial dynamics of the necromass, perennial herb and willow canopy structure, seed migration)