Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Native Riparian Plant Species Dominate the Soil Seedbank of In-channel Geomorphic Features of a Regulated River

Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Flow regulation impacts on riparian vegetation composition, often increasing the prevalence of exotic and terrestrial plant species. Environmental flows may benefit native riparian vegetation via the promotion of plant recruitment from riparian soil seedbanks, but this is dependent on an intact native seedbank. Thus, we assessed the composition of the soil seedbank of different riverine geomorphic features to determine its potential response to environmental flows. Soil seedbank samples were taken from channel bars, benches and floodplains at six sites along the Campaspe River, Australia, a heavily regulated river that receives environmental flows. These geomorphic features represent a gradient in elevation and thus flooding frequency from frequently flooded (bars) to infrequently flooded (floodplain). Seedbank samples were ‘grown out’ in a glasshouse, and seedlings identified and classified according to taxa, flood tolerance and origin (native or exotic). We identified 6515 seedlings across all geomorphic features and sites, with monocots most abundant. Soil seedbank composition varied between geomorphic features. Overall, seedling abundances were greater for in-channel features (bars and benches) than floodplains, but taxa richness did not vary likewise. Soil seedbanks of in-channel features were dominated by flood tolerant and native taxa, while flood intolerant and exotic taxa were generally associated with floodplains. The dominance of native flood tolerant taxa in the soil seedbanks of in-channel geomorphic features suggest these seedbanks can play an important role in the resilience of native riparian plant communities. Moreover, environmental flows are likely to play a positive role in maintaining native riparian plant communities given such conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

References

  • Abernethy VJ, Willby NJ (1999) Changes along a disturbance gradient in the density and composition of propagule banks in floodplain aquatic habitats. Plant Ecol 140(2):177–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arthington AH, Bunn SE, Poff NL, Naiman RJ (2006) The challenge of providing environmental flow rules to sustain river ecosystems. Ecol Appl 6(4):1311–1318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arthington AH, Pusey BJ (2003) Flow restoration and protection in Australian rivers. River Res Appl 19(5‐6):377–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auld TD, O’Connell MA (1991) Predicting patterns of post‐fire germination in 35 eastern Australian Fabaceae. Austral J Ecol 16(1):53–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baskin CC, Baskin JM (1998) Seeds: ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. Academic Press, San Diego, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates D, Mächler M, Bolker B, Walker S (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. J Stat Softw 67(1):1–48

  • Bureau of Meteorology (2020) Climate data online. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data Accessed 2 Sep 2020

  • Boudell JA, Stromberg JC (2008) Propagule banks: potential contribution to restoration of an impounded and dewatered riparian ecosystem. Wetlands 28:656–665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock MA, Casanova MT (1997) Plant life at the edge of wetlands: ecological responses to wetting and drying patterns. In: Frontiers in ecology: building the links, pp 181–192. Elsevier Science: Oxford, UK

  • Brock MA (2011) Persistence of seed banks in Australian temporary wetlands. Freshwater Biology 56:1312–1327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock MA, Casanova MT (2000) How do depth, duration and frequency of flooding influence the establishment of wetland plant communities? Plant Ecol 147(2):237–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bull M (2014) Flora of Melbourne: a guide to the indigenous plants of the Greater Melbourne area. Hyland House Publishing, Melbourne, Australia

  • Bunn SE, Arthington AH (2002) Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimes for aquatic biodiversity. Environ Manag 30(4):492–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cáceres MD, Legendre P (2009) Associations between species and groups of sites: indices and statistical inference. Ecology 90(12):3566–3574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capon SJ (2007) Effects of flooding on seedling emergence from the soil seed bank of a large desert floodplain. Wetlands 27(4):904–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capon SJ, Brock MA (2006) Flooding, soil seed bank dynamics and vegetation resilience of a hydrologically variable desert floodplain. Freshw Biol 51(2):206–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casanova MT (2012) Does cereal crop agriculture in dry swamps damage aquatic plant communities? Aquatic Botany 103:54–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catford JA, Downes BJ (2010) Using multi-scale species distribution data to infer drivers of biological invasion in riparian wetlands. Divers Distrib 16(1):20–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catford JA, Downes BJ, Vesk P, Gippel CJ (2011) Flow regulation reduces native plant cover and facilitates exotic invasion in riparian wetlands. J Appl Ecol 48(2):432–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catford JA, Morris WK, Vesk PA, Gippel CJ, Downes BJ (2014) Species and environmental characteristics point to flow regulation and drought as drivers of riparian plant invasion. Divers Distrib 20(9):1084–1096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton RL, Carpenter DJ, Boutin C, Allison JE (2017) Factors affecting soil seed banks of riparian communities in an agricultural ecosystem: potential for conservation of native plant diversity. Appl Veg Sci 20(3):446–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson SK, Catford JA, Berney P, Kingsford RT, Capon S (2020) Land use alters soil propagule banks of wetlands down the soil-depth profile. Mar Freshw Res 71(2):191–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson SK, Kingsford RT, Berney P, Catford JA, Keith DA, Stoklosa J, Hemmings FA (2017a) Contrasting influences of inundation and land use on the rate of floodplain restoration. Aquat Conserv Mar Freshw Ecosyst 27(3):663–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson SK, Kingsford RT, Berney P, Keith DA, Hemmings FA, Warton DI, Waters C, Catford JA (2017b) Frequent inundation helps counteract land use impacts on wetland propagule banks. Appl Veg Sci 20(3):459–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson SK, Warton DI, Kingsford RT, Berney P, Keith DA, Catford JA (2017c) Plant traits of propagule banks and standing vegetation reveal flooding alleviates impacts of agriculture on wetland restoration. J Appl Ecol 54(6):1907–1918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eldridge DJ, Lunt ID (2010) Resilience of soil seed banks to site degradation in intermittently flooded riverine woodlands. J Veg Sci 21(1):157–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fryirs K, Brierley GJ (2001) Variability in sediment delivery and storage along river courses in Bega catchment, NSW, Australia: implications for geomorphic river recovery. Geomorphology 38(3-4):237–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodson JM, Gurnell A, Angold PG, Morrissey IP (2001) Riparian seed banks: structure, process and implications for riparian management. Prog Phys Geogr 25(3):301–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greet J (2016) The potential of soil seed banks of a eucalypt wetland forest to aid restoration. Wetl Ecol and Manag 24(5):1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greet J, Cousens R, Webb JA (2012) Flow regulation affects temporal patterns of riverine plant seed dispersal: potential implications for plant recruitment. Freshw Biol 57(12):2568–2579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greet J, Cousens R, Webb JA (2013) Flow regulation is associated with riverine soil seed bank composition within an agricultural landscape: potential implications for restoration. J Veg Sci 24(1):157–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grill G et al. (2019) Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers. Nature 569(7755):215–221

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gross KL (1990) A comparison of methods for estimating seed numbers in the soil. J Ecol 78(4):1079–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell A, Goodson J, Thompson K, Mountford O, Clifford N (2007) Three seedling emergence methods in soil seed bank studies: implications for interpretation of propagule deposition in riparian zones. Seed Sci Res 17(3):183–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holzel N, Otte A (2001) The impact of flooding regime on the soil seed bank of flood-meadows. J Veg Sci 12(2):209–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James CS, Capon SJ, White MG, Rayburg S, Thomas MC (2007) Spatial variability of the soil seed bank in a heterogeneous ephemeral wetland system in semi-arid Australia. Plant Ecol 190(2):205–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kew RBG (2019) MSB seed list—Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://apps.kew.org/seedlist Accessed 5 May 2019

  • Kingsford RT (2000) Ecological impacts of dams, water diversions and river management on floodplain wetlands in Australia. Austral Ecol 25(2):109–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp J (2004) Flood channel morphology of a quiet river, the Lachlan downstream from Cowra, South-Eastern Australia. Geomorphology 60(1-2):171–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenth R (2019) emmeans: estimated marginal means, aka least-squares means. R package version 1.3.4. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=emmeans

  • Leyer I (2006) Dispersal, diversity and distribution patterns in pioneer vegetation: the role of river-floodplain connectivity. J Veg Sci 17(4):407–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu ZJ, Li LF, Jiang MX, Huang HD, Bao DC (2010) Can the soil seed bank contribute to revegetation of the drawdown zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region? Plant Ecol 209:153–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunt ID (1997) Germinable soil seed banks of anthropogenic native grasslands and grassy forest remnants in temperate south-eastern Australia. Plant Ecology 130(1):21–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merritt DM, Nilsson C, Jansson R (2010) Consequences of propagule dispersal and river fragmentation for riparian plant community diversity and interannual turnover. Ecol Monogr 80:609–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller KA, Webb A, de Little SC, Stewardson M (2013) Environmental flows can reduce the encroachment of terrestrial vegetation into river channels: a systematic literature review. Environ Manag 52:1201–1212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen DL, Campbell C, Rees GN, Durant R, Littler R, Petrie R (2018) Seed bank dynamics in wetland complexes associated with a lowland river. Aquat Sci 80(2):23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson C, Svedmark M (2002) Basic principles and ecological consequences of changing water regimes: riparian plant communities. Environ Manag 30(4):468–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson C, Brown RL, Jansson R, Merritt DM (2010) The role of hydrochory in structuring riparian and wetland vegetation. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 85:837–858

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell J, Fryirs K, Leishman MR (2013) Digging deep for diversity: riparian seed bank abundance and species richness in relation to burial depth. Freshw Biol 59(1):100–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell J, Fryirs K, Leishman MR (2014) Can the regeneration of vegetation from riparian seed banks support biogeomorphic succession and the geomorphic recovery of degraded river channels? River Res and Appl 31(7):834–846

  • O’Donnell J, Fryirs KA, Leishman MR (2016) Seed banks as a source of vegetation regeneration to support the recovery of degraded rivers: A comparison of river reaches of varying condition. Sci Total Environ 542:591–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara R, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2013) Package ‘vegan’. Community ecology package, R package version 2. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan

  • Poff N, Allan J, Bain M, Karr J, Prestegaard K, Richter B, Sparks R, Stromberg J (1997) The natural flow regime. BioScience 47(11):769–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poiani KA, Johnson WC (1988) Evaluation of the emergence method in estimating seed bank composition of prairie wetlands. Aquat Bot 32(1-2):91–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2019) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.Rproject.org/

  • Richardson FJ, Richardson RG, Shepherd RCH (2016) Weeds of the South-east: an identification guide for Australia (Ed. 3). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia

  • Reid M, Capon S (2011) Role of the soil seed bank in vegetation responses to environmental flows on a drought-affected floodplain. River Syst 19(3):249–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (2019). Flora of Victoria. https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/search Accessed 1 June 2019

  • Siebentritt MA, Ganf GG, Walker KF (2004) Effects of an enhanced flood on riparian plants of the River Murray, South Australia. River Res Appl 20(7):765–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soons MB, de Groot GA, Cuesta Ramirez MT, Fraaije RG, Verhoeven JT, de Jager M (2017) Directed dispersal by an abiotic vector: wetland plants disperse their seeds selectively to suitable sites along the hydrological gradient via water. Funct Ecol 31(2):499–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes K, Ward K, Colloff M (2010) Alterations in flood frequency increase exotic and native species richness of understorey vegetation in a temperate floodplain eucalypt forest. Plant Ecol 211(2):219–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tererai F, Gaertner M, Jacobs SM, Richardson DM (2015) Resilience of invaded riparian landscapes: the potential role of soil-stored seed banks. Environ Manag 55:86–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K, Grime JP (1979) Seasonal variation in the seed banks of herbaceous species in ten contrasting habitats. J Ecol 67:893–921

  • Thompson K, Band SR, Hodgson JG (1993) Seed size and shape predict persistence in soil. Funct Ecol 7:236–241

  • Tonkin Z, Jones C, Clunie P, Vivian L, Amtstaetter F, Jones M, Koster W, Mole B, O’Connor J, Brooks J, Caffrey L, Lyon J (2020) Victorian environmental flows monitoring and assessment program. Stage 6 Synthesis Report 2016-2020. Technical Report Series No. 316 Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Vietz GJ, Rutherfurd ID, Stewardson MJ (2004) Not all benches are created equal: proposing and field testing an in-channel river bench classification. Proceedings of the 4th Australian Stream Management Conference. Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Launceston Tasmania

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei Y, Langford J, Willett IR, Barlow S, Lyle C (2011) Is irrigated agriculture in the Murray Darling Basin well prepared to deal with reductions in water availability? Glob Environ Change 21(3):906–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams L, Reich P, Capon SJ, Raulings E (2008) Soil seed banks of degraded riparian zones in southeastern Australia and their potential contribution to the restoration of understorey vegetation. River Res Appl 24(7):1002–1017

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Scott McKendrick, Jack Davis and Lyndsey Vivian for their help with seedling identification and counting, Rowan Berry and Brett Hough for their help in the nursery, and Paul Chantler for his support throughout. We would like to thank the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research of the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and The University of Melbourne for funding this research. Lastly, but not least, we would like to thank our three anonymous reviewers and the Editor in Chief of Environmental Management for their valuable and detailed feedback on this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marjorie Pereira.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

All authors have been fully engaged in the development of the manuscript and agree to its submission in its current form. We also confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by any other journal, and that we have no conflicts of interest to declare. Study data is available via the Open Science Framework here: https://osf.io/4vaew/.

Ethical Approval

There are no ethical approval requirements, and as all sites were on Crown land, no access permission was required. Field research was conducted under permit number 10008220 under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and National Parks Act 1975.

Informed Consent

The authors give consent for this research to be published.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pereira, M., Greet, J. & Jones, C.S. Native Riparian Plant Species Dominate the Soil Seedbank of In-channel Geomorphic Features of a Regulated River. Environmental Management 67, 589–599 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01435-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01435-4

Keywords

Navigation