In Site Soil Seed-Banks: Size, Composition and Persistence across Tropical Successional Stages.

ABSTRACT: I investigated the size, composition and persistence of the seed-bank in primary forests, secondary forests and old-fields in southern Mexico. I also assessed the contribution of the seed-bank to regeneration relative to other propagule sources. In all habitats, I removed by hand all plants and litter and excluded the seed-rain. For one year, I counted the number of plant species (5-50 cm tall) emerged and grouped them into different growth-forms: trees, shrubs, palms, herbs, woody lianas, epiphytes and hemi-epiphytes. A total of 95 species emerged. The seed-bank size, composition and persistence showed strong variation among successional stages. Emergence was low for primary and secondary forests, but high for old-fields (19, 26, and 68 plants per m^-2, respectively). Herbs were

SUBMITTER: Benitez-Malvido J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10420881 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature