Spatial Heterogeneity in the Soil Seed Bank of a Mature Coastal Plain Forest

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The soil seed bank of a mixed coastal plain forest in southern New Jersey (USA) was surveyed by recording germination in soil samples from 34 forest stands. Historical records indicate that stands had not been tilled or clear-cut for at least 100 years prior to the study. The seed flora was dominated by herbaceous species typical of early successional and disturbed habitats, but generally absent from the mature forest community. Seed distributions ranged from mildly to strongly clustered at the scale of 100 cm2 samples, but local abundance of seed was independent of litter composition or density of vegetative stems in adjacent 4 m2 quadrats. These results suggest limitation of populations by infrequent opportunities for germination and establishment. Dormant seed in the soil appears to persist from infrequent local disturbance events rather than from a period of cultivation. Heterogeneous distribution of seed at the level of stands was related to historical fire frequency and indirectly to moisture availability, factors which have also been shown to delineate aboveground communities.