Investigating the Soil Seed Bank and Its Relation with the Aboveground Vegetation along an Elevation Gradient in Kashan, Iran

Journal of Rangeland Science

دوره 11، شماره 3، مهر 2021، صفحه 336-356   

نوع مقاله: Research and Full Length Article

نویسندگان

zeinab Soleimaninejad¹؛ Mansureh Ghavam^{* 2}؛ Ali Tavili³؛ Zeinab Toluei⁴

¹MSc. Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran.

²Assistant Professor, Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran.

³Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation of Arid and Mountainous, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

⁴Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

چکیده

A part of plant species composition in natural ecosystems is live seeds that are hidden in the soil and known as soil seed bank. Detecting this species resource has a key role in protecting and restoring the vegetation. The present study aims to investigate the soil seed bank and its relationship with the aboveground vegetation along an elevation gradient in Kashan, Iran. For sampling from the soil seed bank, three transects with 200 m length were established in June 2017. The soil samples were taken from two depths ranging 0-5 and 5-10 cm out of 1 m2 plots with 20 m intervals. The soil samples were transferred to the greenhouse. Moreover, the cover percent of plant species within each plot was recorded in the vegetation season in spring 2018. The features of soil seed bank in different elevations were compared by F-test. The results of one-way analysis of variance showed that the effect of altitude from sea level on the Shannon's diversity and soil depth on the density, Menhinik and Margalef richness was significant. The higher value of Shannon diversity in upper altitude (2800-3000 m above sea level) and higher value of Dnensity, Margalof and Menhinik in upper soil depth (0-5 cm) was obtained. The results of greenhouse experiments showed that most of the germinated seeds belong to annual grass species. While the surface cover of most species is related to perennial plants. The highest coverage of Artemisia aucheri was from 2600-2800 m and the lowest percentage of cover belonged to Alyssum linifolium in the elevations of 2800-3000 m. It can be concluded that in the study area, seeds of perennial plants do not have a readiness for germination in soil depths or they should remain in soil for a long time and should be described as stable seed banks.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Elevation؛ Germination؛ Density؛ Diversity؛ Soil seed bank

مراجع

Abarsaji, Gh., 2000. Identification and investigation on some of ecophysiological characteristics of Aeluropus spp. in saline and alkaline rangelands in the north of Gorgan. Pajouhesh & Sanzandegi, 46: 21-25. (In Persian)

Aghababaei Taleghanki, M., Asadi, A., Tahmasebi, P., Shirmardi, H. A., 2014.Investigating the similarity between above ground vegetation and soil seed bank in order to evaluate the seed bank potential in improving the semi-steppe rangelands of ChaharMahal and Bakhtiari,  Journal of Rangeland, 8(1): 13-24. (In Persian).

Bekker, R., G. Verweij, R. Smith, R. Rrine, J.P. Bakker and Schneider, S., 1997. Soil seed bank in European grasslands: does land use affect regeneration perspectives? Journal of Applied Ecology, 34: 1293- 1310.

Bertiller, A.M. and Aloia, D.A., 1997. Seed bank strategies in Patagonian semi-arid grasslands in relation to their management and conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation, 6: 639-650.

Bonvissuto, G.L., 2006. Establthiemiet to de plántulas de germíneas y arbustos dentro y entre isletas de vegetation en el Monte Austral Neuquino. Doctoral Thesis. Dept. d'Agronomía, Univ. Nac. Sur, Argentina.

Bossuyt, B. and Hermy, M., 2008. Can the seed bank be used for ecological restoration? An overview of seed bank characteristics in European communities. Journal of Vegetation Science, 19: 875-884.

Bossuyt, B. and Hermy M., 2004. Seed bank assembly follows vegetation succession in dune slacks. Journal of Vegetation Science, 15: 449-456.

Daïnou, K., Bauduina, A., Bourlanda, N., Franc, J., Gillet, O., Fétékéa, F., and ouceta, J.L., 2011. Soil seed bank characteristics in Cameroonian zainforests and implications for post-logging forest recovery. Ecological Engineering. 37:1499-1506.

Daneshgar, M., Erfanzadeh, R., Qelichunia, H., 2013. Investigation of the effect of exclosure on density and richness of soil seed bank species and its similarity with land cover in Pleur mountain rangelands, Iranian Journal of Forests and Rangelands Protection Research, 11, (2): 78- 69. (In Persian)

Erfanzadeh, R., Gurbutt, A., Petillon, J., Maelfati, J. P., and Hoffmann, M., 2009. Factors affecting the success of early saltmarsh colonizers: Seed availability rather than site suitability and dispersal traits. Plant Ecology, 206: 335-345.

Erfanzadeh, R. and Hosseini Kahnuj, S.H., 2010. The effect of grazing and plant successional stages on soil seed bank. Journal of Rangeland, 5 (2): 155-161. (In Persian).

Erfanzadeh, R. Hosseini Kahnouj, S., H. and Dianti Tilki, Gh., 2011. Comparison of soil seed bank of grazed and non-grazed areas in different depths of soil. Arid Biome, 1(4);64-74. (In Persian).

Fathi, S., Mokhtarpour, M. 2014. Study of Cultural-Historical Tourist Attractions in Ghahrood Village, Quarterly Journal of Human Geography, 6(3): 123-97. (In Persian).

Fisher, M. A. and Fuel, P. Z., 2004. Changs in forest vegetation and arbuscular mycorrhizae along a steep elevation gradient in Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management, 200: 293-311.

Ghavam, M., 2018. Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth in Thymus vulgaris L. and Thymus daenensis Celak under Salinity Stress. Journal of Rangeland Science, 8(1): 93-100.

Grell, G. A., Michael, G., Shelton, E. H., 2005. Changes in plant species composition along an elevation gradient in an old-growth bottomland hardwood-Pinus taeda forest in southern Arkansas. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 132(1): 72–89.

Grime, J. P., 1979. Plant strategies and vegetation processes. University of Sheffield, UK.

Ghorbani, J., Eloun, H., Shokri, M., Jafaryan, Z., 2008. Species composition of standing vegetation and soil seed bank in a scrubland and shrubland. Rangeland (SRM), 2(3): 264-276.

Hathout, S., 2002. The use of GIS for monitoring and predicting urban growth in East and West St Paul, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Environmental Management, 66: 229-238.

Hayatt, L.A., 1999. Differences between soil seed bank composition and field recruitment in a temperate zone decidious forest American Middelland Naturalist, 142: 31- 38.

Hegazy, A. K., Hammouda, O., Lovett-Doust, J., and Gomaa, N. H., 2009. Variation of the germinable Soil Seed bank along the altitudinal gradient in the northwestern Red Sea region. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 29:20 29.

Hopfensberger, K., 2007. A review of similarity between seed bank and standing vegetation across ecosystems. Oikos, 116:1438–1448.

Hosseini, S.A and Shahmoradi, A.A., 2011. Autecology of Halocnemum strobilaceum (Pall.) M. Bieb. in saline and alkaline rangelands of Golestan Province. Journal of Plant Science Researches, 22: 18-30. (In Persian)

Hosseini Kahnouj, S., H., Erfanzadeh, R., Azarnivand, H., 2015. Comparison of soil seed bank characteristics of two meadow and forest habitats, Journal of Range and Watershed Management, 68(3): 469-485. (In Persian)

Jangju, M., 2009. Improvement and Rangeland Development, Mashhad University Press, 239 pp. (In Persian)

Jokar, M., Rahmanian, M., Mohammadzadeh, N., 2013. The study of the morphological and environmental hazards of the Bidgol plain in north of Isfahan city using the GIS, 8th Conference of the Iranian Institute of Environmental Engineering and Geology, p. 8-1.

Kamali, P., Aristotle, R. and Gilichnia, H., 2013. The role of soil seed bank for restoration of the lands covered with damaged Waz watershed, Watershed research (research and construction), 98: 124-116.

Kemp, P.R., 1989. Seed bank and vegetation processes in desert, Ecology of Soil Seed Banks. Academic Press, San Diego, 257-282.

Lopez-Marino, A., Estanislao, L.C., Federico, F., 2000. Floristic composition of established vegetation and the soil seed bank in pasture communities under different traditional management regimes. _ Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 78: 273_282.

Luzuriaga, A.L., Escudero, A., Olano, J.M. and Loidi, J., 2005. Regenerative role of seed banks following an intense soil disturbance. Acta Oecologica, 27:57–66.

Ma, M., Zhou, X., Wang, G., Ma, Z., Du, G., 2010. Seasonal Dynamics in Alpine Meadow Seed Banksalong an Altitudinal Gradient on the Tibetan Plateau. Plant and soil, 336(1-2): 291-302.

Maia, P., Pausas, J., Arcenegui, V., Guerrero, C., Pérez-Bejarano, A., Mataix-Solera, J., Varela, M., Fernandes, I., Pedrosa, E., Keizer, J., 2012. Wildfire Effects on the Soil Seed Bank of a Maritime Pine Stand—the Importance of Fire Severity. Geoderma, 191: 80-88.

Major, J. and Pyott, W.T., 1966. Buried viable seeds in two California bunchgrass sites and their bearing on the definition of a flora. Journal of Vegetation, 13: 253-282.

Mengistu, T., Teketay, D., H. and Yemshaw, Y., 2005. The role of enclosures in the recovery of woody vegetation in degraded dryland hillsides of central and northern Ethiopia Journal of Arid Environments, 60: 259-281.

Mirzaei, J. and Karami, A., 2015. Plant Diversity and Richness in Relation to Environmental Gradient in Zagros Ecosystems, West of Iran. Journal of Rangeland Science, 5(4): 294-302.

Najafi Shaybankar, Sh., Jalili, A.S. Khorasani, N. Jam Zadeh, Z., 2012. Investigation of Soil Seedbed Bank in Plant communities of GNU Protected Area, Iranian journal of Range and Desert Research, 19(4): 613-601. (In Persian).

Nazari, S., Ghorbani, J, H., Tamertash, R., 2014. Plant composition and seed density in mountainous meadow seed bank in the northern slopes of Alborz, Journal of Plant Research (Iranian Journal of Biology), 27(2): 319-310. (In Persian).

Nouraie, A., Jalali, S., G., Ismailzadeh, A., 2014. Seasonal change pattern of soil seed bank of Sefid Pellet Park, Noor Forest Park, Journal of Wood and Forest Science and Technology, 21(1): 20-1. (In Persian).

Oldeland, J., Dreber, N. and Wesuls, D., 2010. Diversity measures in comparative rangeland studies: application and advantages of species abundance distributions and diversity profiles. Dinteria, 31: 50-66.

Price, M. V. and Joyner, J. W., 1997. What resources are available to desert granivores: seed rain or soil seed bank?. Ecology, 78(3), 764-773.

Reine, R., Chocarro, C. and Fillat, F., 2006. Spatial patterns in seed bank and vegetation of semi-natural mountain meadows. Plant Ecology, 186(2): 151-160.

Salariyan, F., Ghorbani, J., Heydari, A. and Saffaiyan, N., 2016. Potential of richness and diversity of species stored in seed bank of rangeland soil in two grazing conditions of livestock, Journal of Range and Watershed Management, 69(2): 395-383. (In Persian).

Sharifi, J. and Imani, A., 2006. Investigation of the effect of fire on changes in vegetation and species composition in semi-steppe rangelands of Ardabil province (Case study of Khalkhal research exclosure). Journal of Iranian Natural Resources, 59(2): 526-517. (In Persian).

Skoglund, J., 1992. The role of seed banks in vegetation dynamics and restoration of dry tropical ecosystems. Vegetation Science, 3: 357 360.                          

Tahmasebi, P., 2013. Plant Communities Ecology. Shahrekord University, 276p. (In Persian)

Ter Heerdt, G. N. J., Verweij, G. L., Bekker, R. M. and Bakker, J. P., 1996. An improved method for seed-bank analysis: seedling emergence after removing the soil by sieving. Functional ecology, 144-151.

Thompson, K., 1992. The functional ecology of seed bank, in: Fenner, M. (ed.). Seeds: The ecology of regeneration in plant communities, CAB  Inernational, Wallingford, Oxon, UK, 231-258.

Thompson, k. and Grime, J. P., 1979. Seasonal variation in the seed banks of herbaceous species in ten contrasting habitats. Journal of Ecology, 67: 893- 921.

Wellstein, C., Otte, A. and Waldhardt, R., 2007. Seed bank diversity in mesic grasslands in relation to vegetation type, management and site conditions. Journal of Vegetation Science, 18:153–162.

Wolters, M. & Bakker, J.P., 2002. Soil seed bank and driftline composition along a successional gradient on atemperate salt-marsh. Applied Vegetation Science, 5(1): 55-62.

Yoshihara, Y., Ohkuro, T., Bunveibatar, B., Jamsun, U. and Takeuchi, K., 2010. Spatial pattern of grazing affects influence of herbivores on spatial heterogeneity of Plants ansoils. Oecologi, 162(2):427-434.