Soil Seed Banks in Pinus Ponderosa Forests in Arizona: Clues to Site History and Restoration Potential
Korb JE, Springer JD, Powers SR, Moore MM. 2005. Soil Seed Banks in Pinus Ponderosa Forests in Arizona: Clues to Site History and Restoration Potential. Applied Vegetation Science. 8(1):103-112
How does the relationship between the viable soil seed bank species composition and the above-ground vegetation in northern Arizona Pinus ponderosa forests differ under varying historical land use disturbances (low, intermediate, high)? Is above-ground vegetation correlated to the viable soil seed bank immediately following soil disturbance from restoration thinning treatments?Early-successional or ruderal species were common in the soil seed bank at all three disturbance sites. Non-native species, notably Verbascum thapsus, were more numerous (up to 940 seeds/m2) under high disturbance with overgrazing and logging, and less common or absent under low disturbance. Most viable seeds were found in the O-horizon and the upper 5 cm of mineral soil; there was little correlation between species in the soil seed bank and the above-ground vegetation.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Korb, Julie; Springer, Judith; Powers, Stephanie; Moore, Margaret
- Units
- GRCA , PARA
- Keywords
- Arizona, disturbance, ecological restoration, ponderosa pine, tree thinning, vegetation dynamics