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Factors determining species richness of soil seed banks in lowland ancient woodlands

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Abstract

The demise of coppicing in UK ancient woodlands, combined with the planting of non-native, fast-growing conifers in the twentieth century, heightens the potential recharge value of ground flora seed banks. Soil cores from adjoining semi-natural and conifer-containing stands in four lowland ancient woods in central England were removed to establish seed bank species richness. During a fourteen-month germination trial soil from two depths yielded 6554 seedlings from 81 species, ten of which showed a strong affinity for ancient woodland conditions. Juncus effusus accounted for 80% of emergent seeds whilst 23 other species, including Lysimachia nummularia and Potentilla sterilis, were represented by only one individual. Species richness is described by a model that explains 40% of observed variance (P < 0.00001). The model has three significant variables: species richness increases as soil pH rises, and decreases with both depth and increasing time since the most recent planting/disturbance event. No difference was found in the density of seeds from species common to paired semi-natural and conifer-containing stands that were separated only by a woodland ride, suggesting prior management and environmental conditions have a greater influence on seed banks than current stand type. Sørensen similarity index values revealed poor congruence between above-ground vegetation and species in the seed bank. Taking pH measurements in conifer stands identified as younger in terms of planting/disturbance may help locate areas where greater numbers of species (including woodland specialists) are located. Caution is required, however, as these seed banks may also contain non-target, competitive species that may swamp the regeneration of woodland specialists.

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Abbreviations

ASNW:

Ancient semi-natural woodlands

PAWS:

Plantations on ancient woodland sites

AWIS:

Ancient woodland indicator species

GLM:

General linear model

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Cheryl Lundberg and Paul Malcolm of The Forestry Commission for permission to work in the four woods, and for providing information on woodland histories, stand types and ages, Duncan McCollin for his helpful comments during manuscript preparation, and the valuable comments of two anonymous referees that greatly improved the focus of the manuscript. Hilary E. Erenler was partially funded by grants from The Crowther Trust (The Open University) and the T.D. Lewis Fund (The University of Northampton).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Landscape and Biodiversity Research Group, School of Science and Technology, The University of Northampton, Newton Building, Avenue Campus, Northampton, NN2 6JD, UK

    Hilary E. Erenler & Jeff Ollerton

  2. Edge Hill University, Lancashire, UK

    Paul A. Ashton

  3. The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Michael P. Gillman

Authors
  1. Hilary E. Erenler
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  2. Paul A. Ashton
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  3. Michael P. Gillman
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  4. Jeff Ollerton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hilary E. Erenler.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4, 5.

Table 4 Earliest documented ages of woodlands in study
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Table 5 Species list (81 species)
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Erenler, H.E., Ashton, P.A., Gillman, M.P. et al. Factors determining species richness of soil seed banks in lowland ancient woodlands. Biodivers Conserv 19, 1631–1648 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9793-1

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