Potential contribution of the seed bank in coniferous plantations to the restoration of native deciduous forest vegetation |
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| Institution: | 1. Équipe cycles biogéochimiques, Institut national de la recherche agronomique, Centre de recherches forestières de Nancy, 54280 Champenoux, France;2. Équipe phytoécologie forestière, Institut national de la recherche agronomique, Centre de recherches forestières de Nancy, 54280 Champenoux, France;1. National Museums of Kenya, Ornithology Department, P.O. Box 50361-00100, Nairobi, Kenya;2. Stellenbosch University, Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602 Stellenbosch, South Africa;1. University of Maryland, Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, College Park, MD 20742, USA;2. Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center, Brooklyn College, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA;3. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA;4. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA;1. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, United States;2. Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka;3. Environmental & Life Sciences Program, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam;4. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, United States;1. Center for Forest Disturbance Science, US Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Athens, GA 30602, USA;2. Center for Research on Ecosystem Change, Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, Grand Rapids, MN, USA;3. Grassland, Shrubland, and Desert Ecosystems, Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Moscow, ID, USA |
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| Abstract: | In this study, we compared the soil seed bank and current vegetation under coniferous plantations and adjacent native deciduous forests. The objective was to assess how much of the initial plant diversity is retained in such plantations, and the potential to restore this initial plant community from seed bank in case of reversion to broadleave stands. Four stands growing side by side and with different dominant species were selected at two locations (site of Haye: Quercus petraea, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies; site of La Petite-Pierre: Quercus petraea, Fagus sylvatica, Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies). In each stand, ground vegetation was surveyed and soil seed bank was sampled. Composition of ground flora and seed bank of stands were quite different: only 11 to 30 % of the species were in both the ground flora and the seed bank. Composition of the seed bank was mainly influenced by site location and sylvicultural practices such as the type of afforestation or the tree cover. Species richness of seed banks and vegetation were higher in the site of Haye than in the site of La Petite-Pierre. Seedling density strongly decreased with stand age. Whereas between 65 and 86 % of species found in the ground vegetation of native deciduous stand were also present in the understory or the seed bank of mature coniferous stands, this was only about 50 % in young coniferous stands. Species of deciduous stands which were absent from coniferous stands were typical of old forests. In contrast, species mainly found in the coniferous stands were often ruderal. In the studied areas, it would be possible to restore up to 86 % of the native deciduous forest vegetation, but some plant species typical of ancient forests may have disappeared during the coniferous stage. |
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