Soil seed bank

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about natural seed repositories. For other uses, see Seed bank (disambiguation).

The soil seed bank is the natural storage of

restoration ecology
.

Henry David Thoreau wrote that the contemporary popular belief explaining the succession of a logged forest, specifically to trees of a dissimilar species to the trees cut down, was that seeds either spontaneously generated in the soil, or sprouted after lying dormant for centuries. However, he dismissed this idea, noting that heavy nuts unsuited for distribution by wind were distributed instead by animals.[3]

The ecological importance of seed bank

The seed bank is one of the key factors for the persistence and density fluctuations of plant populations, especially for

rhizomes, and bulbs. Moreover, the term soil diaspore bank can be used to include non-flowering plants such as ferns and bryophytes.[citation needed
]

Soil seed bank is significant breeding source for vegetation restoration

species composition of the seed bank and the composition of the aboveground vegetation.[10][11][12] Additionally, it is a key point that the relationship between soil seed bank and original potential to measure the revegetation potential.[13][14] In endangered habitats, such as mudflats, rare and critically endangered species may be present in high de, the composition of the seed bank is often more stable than the vegetation to environmental changes[7][7],[15]

Soil seed banks are a crucial part of the rapid re-vegetation of sites disturbed by wildfire, catastrophic weather, agricultural operations, and timber harvesting, a natural process known as

Forest ecosystems and wetlands contain a number of specialized plant species forming persistent soil seed banks.[citation needed
]

The absence of a soil seed bank impedes the establishment of vegetation during primary succession, while presence of a well-stocked soil seed bank permits rapid development of species-rich ecosystems during secondary succession.[citation needed]

Seed longevity

Dried lotus seeds

Many

germinate, while seeds of persistent species can survive longer than the next opportunity—often much longer than one year. Species with seeds that remain viable in the soil longer than five years form the long-term persistent seed bank, while species whose seeds generally germinate or die within one to five years are called short-term persistent. A typical long-term persistent species is Chenopodium album (Lambsquarters); its seeds commonly remain viable in the soil for up to 40 years and in rare situations perhaps as long as 1,600 years.[17] A species forming no soil seed bank at all (except the dry season between ripening and the first autumnal rains) is Agrostemma githago (Corncockle), which was formerly a widespread cereal weed.[citation needed
]

Longevity of seeds is very variable and depends on many factors. Seeds buried more deeply tend to be capable of lasting longer.

carbon dating to be around 1,200 years old.[20] One cultivar of date palm, the Judean date palm, successfully sprouted in 2008 after accidental storage for 2,000 years.[21]

The famous seed longevity experiments

One of the longest-running soil seed viability trials was started in Michigan in 1879 by James Beal. The experiment involved the burying of 20 bottles holding 50 seeds from 21 species. Every five years, a bottle from every species was retrieved and germinated on a tray of sterilized soil which was kept in a growth chamber. Later, after responsibility for managing the experiment was delegated to caretakers, the period between retrievals became longer. In 1980, more than 100 years after the trial was started, seeds of only three species were observed to germinate: moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria), common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) and common mallow (Malva neglecta).[22] Several other experiments have been conducted to determine the long-term longevity of seeds in soil seed banks.

Soil seed bank longevity of seeds in experimental conditions
Species Time Comments
Verbascum blattaria At least 142 years[23]
Verbascum thapsus At least 100 years [22]
Malva neglecta At least 100 years
Oenothera biennis 80 years[24] 10% of seeds sprouted after the 80-year mark
Rumex crispus 80 years Only 2% of seeds survived to this point.[24]
Datura stramonium At least 39 years Over 90 percent germination rate was reported[25]
Phytolacca americana At least 39 years 80-90 percent germination rate was reported[25]
Solanum nigrum At least 39 years Over 80 percent germination rate was reported[25]
Robinia pseudoacacia At least 39 years
Ambrosia artemisiifolia At least 39 years
Potentilla norvegica At least 39 years
Onopordum acanthium At least 39 years
Rudbeckia hirta At least 39 years
Cuscuta polygonorum At least 39 years
Lespedeza frutescens At least 39 years
Convolvulus sepium
 At least 39 years
Ipomoea lacunosa At least 39 years
Verbena hastata At least 39 years
Verbena urticifolia At least 39 years
Nicotiana tabacum At least 39 years
Arctium lappa At least 39 years Only 1 percent germination was reported.
Boehmeria nivea
 At least 39 years
Setaria verticillata At least 39 years
Trifolium pratense At least 39 years
Rumex obtusifolius At least 39 years
Rumex salicifolius At least 39 years
Chenopodium album At least 39 years
Chenopodium hybridum
 At least 39 years
Abutilon theophrasti At least 39 years
Leucanthemum vulgare At least 39 years
Hibiscus militaris
 At least 39 years
Hypericum hypericoides At least 39 years
Sporobolus cryptandrus At least 39 years
Polygonum scandens
 At least 39 years Germination rate was very low throughout the experiment.
Poa pratensis At least 39 years
Setaria viridis At least 39 years
Phalaris arundinacea 30 years Only 1 percent of seed survived.
Portulaca oleracea 30 years 38 percent of the most deeply buried seeds were viable at 21 years, 1 percent of more shallowly buried seeds are reported sprouting after the 30 year mark.
Polygonum pensylvanicum
 30 years
Polygonum persicaria
 30 years
Cassia marilandica
 30 years
Thlaspi arvense 30 years
Trifolium hybridum 30 years
Ambrosia trifida 21 years
Brassica nigra
 21 years
Dracocephalum parviflorum 24.7 years[26]
Rorippa islandica
 24.7 years
Matricaria discoidea 24.7 years
Polygonum aviculare 24.7 years
Helianthus annuus
 17 years[18]
Setaria parviflora 17 years
Cirsium arvense 17 years
Cirsium flodmanii 17 years
Ipomoea hederacea 17 years
Persicaria amphibia 17 years
Amaranthus tuberculatus 17 years
Solanum sarrachoides 17 years
Ambrosia grayii 17 years Only 1% of seed germinated.
Bassia scoparia 17 years Only 1% of seed germinated.
Echinochloa crus-galli 17 years Only 1% of seed germinated.
Amaranthus retroflexus 12 years[18]
Pyrus calleryana At least 11 years[27]

Other studies

Species of

genera; this is a major factor that aids their invasive potential.[28] Each plant has the capability to produce between 90,000 and 450,000 seeds, although a majority of these seeds are not viable.[29] It has been estimated that only two witchweeds would produce enough seeds required to refill a seed bank after seasonal losses.[30]
Before the advent of herbicides, a good example of a persistent seed bank species was Papaver rhoeas, sometimes so abundant in agricultural fields in Europe that it could be mistaken for a crop.[citation needed]

Studies on the genetic structure of Androsace septentrionalis populations in the seed bank compared to those of established plants showed that diversity within populations is higher below ground than above ground.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Jack Dekker (1997). "The Soil Seed Bank". Agronomy Department, Iowa State University. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. doi:10.1590/S0103-90161998000500013
     – via SciELO.
  3. JSTOR 4389644
    .
  4. ^
    ISSN 1433-8319
    .
  5. ^ Lu, Z.J., Li, L.F., Jiang, M.X., Huang, H.D., and Bao, D.C., Can the soil seed bank contribute to revegetation of the drawdown zone in the Three Gorges reservoir region? Plant Ecol., 2010, vol. 209, no. 1,pp. 153–165.
  6. ^
    ISSN 0006-3207
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  7. ISSN 0022-0477
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  9. ISSN 2041-1723
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  10. ^ Sanderson, M.A., Goslee, S.C., Klement, K.D., and Soder, K.J., Soil seed bank composition in pastures of diverse mixtures of temperate forages, Agron. J., 2007, vol. 99, no. 6, p. 1514.
  11. ISSN 1588-2756
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  12. ^ Hopfensperger, K.N., A review of similarity between seed bank and standing vegetation across ecosystems,Oikos, 2007, vol. 116, pp. 1438–1448.
  13. ^ Lu, Z.J., Li, L.F., Jiang, M.X., Huang, H.D., and Bao, D.C., Can the soil seed bank contribute to revegetation of the drawdown zone in the Three Gorges reservoir region? Plant Ecol., 2010, vol. 209, no. 1,pp. 153–165
  14. S2CID 255553677
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  15. S2CID 91872044
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  16. S2CID 53974012
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  17. ^ "Iowa State University: College of Agriculture and Life Science: Lambsquarters".
  18. ^
    S2CID 82721189
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  19. ^ Ken Thompson, Jan P. Bakker, and Renée M. Bekker. 1997. The soil seed banks of north west Europe : methodology, density and longevity. New York : Cambridge University Press. p. 276
  20. ISBN 978-0-85199-723-0
    .
  21. ^ Fountain, Henry (2008-06-17). "Date Seed of Masada is Oldest Ever to Sprout". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  22. ^ a b Frank W. Telewski. "Research & Teaching". Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  23. ^ "Unearthing a scientific mystery". msutoday.msu.edu. Michigan State University.
  24. ^
    doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1961.tb11645.x
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  25. ^ a b c Brown, E.; Toole, E.H. (1946). "Final Results of the Duvel Buried Seed Experiment". Journal of Agricultural Research. 72 (6).
  26. S2CID 9103710
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  27. S2CID 191180173
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  28. ISBN 978-0-13-502814-8
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  29. S2CID 89078686
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  30. ISBN 978-3-642-38146-1
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