Spatio-temporal variation in a seed bank of a semi-arid region in northeastern Brazil |
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| Institution: | 1. Center for Developmental Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University & New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA;2. Key laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 20062, China;3. MRI Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University & New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA;4. Columbia Center for Children''s Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA;1. Poznań University of Life Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Wojska Polskiego 75, 60-625 Poznań, Poland;2. Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Biology, Laboratory of General Botany, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland;3. Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Chemistry, Umultowska 89B, 61-614 Poznań, Poland |
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| Abstract: | This study aimed to evaluate variations in the seed bank within a 3-year temporal series in order to answer the following questions: 1) Does the seed bank's species richness and seed density differ among climatic seasons and between years? 2) Are there differences in the richness and density of seed banks between the litter and mineral soil? 3) Can the seed bank's species richness and seed density be explained by characteristics such as the previous year's precipitation and soil depth (litter or mineral soil)? The samples were collected from litter and mineral soil (0–5 cm), in 210 sub-plots, during the dry and rainy seasons of each year (August 2005 through February 2008). Overall, 79 species were recorded. On average, 1 168, 304 and 302 seeds.m−2 were recorded in the seed bank during years I, II and III, respectively. This study showed that the Caatinga's seed bank is rich in herbaceous species, yet species' density and richness are low in the litter. Furthermore, about 43% of the variation in species richness and density was explained by soil depth (litter and mineral soil) and previous years' rainfall. |
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