Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Characteristics of soil seed banks at different geomorphic positions within the longitudinal sand dunes of the Gurbantunggut Desert, China

  • Published:
Journal of Arid Land Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Understanding the characteristics of soil seed banks in sand dunes is crucial to stabilize the dune systems and maintain the plant populations in deserts. In this study, we conducted a survey investigation in the field and a seed germination experiment in the laboratory to explore the characteristics of soil seed banks at various geomorphic positions of longitudinal sand dunes in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China. Totally, 17 plant species belonging to 17 genera and 9 families were identified in soil seed banks, and 35 plant species belonging to 34 genera and 17 families were identified in aboveground vegetation. Plant species richness in soil seed banks decreased with increasing soil depth. The highest species richness was presented in the upper slope of the windward slope and the lowest species richness was presented in the base of the windward slope. There was no significant difference in seed density of soil seed banks among the examined seven geomorphic positions. The highest seed density occurred in the lower slope of the leeward slope while the lowest occurred in the crest. Moreover, seed density decreased with increasing soil depth, being the highest in the upper soil layer (0–2 cm). For both soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation, there was no significant difference in Simpson’s diversity index among the seven geomorphic positions; however, Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Pielou’s evenness index showed significant differences among the seven geomorphic positions. Those results showed that although there was no significant difference in seed density of soil seed banks among the seven geomorphic positions, the geomorphic positions significantly affected the species richness, diversity and distribution of soil seed banks. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of soil seed banks at different geomorphic positions of sand dunes is essential to vegetation restoration or reestablishment. Furthermore, the Jaccard’s similarity coefficients of plant species between soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation at the seven geomorphic positions were low, suggesting that vegetation restoration or reestablishment processes should be promoted through adding seeds to surface layers.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • An P, Li X J, Zheng Y R, et al. 2015. Distribution of plant species and species-soil relationship in the east central Gurbantunggut Desert, China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 25(1): 101–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asadi H, Hosseini S M, Esmailzadeh O, et al. 2012. Persistent soil seed banks in old-growth Hyrcanian Box tree (Buxus hyrcana) stands in northern Iran. Ecological Research, 27(1): 23–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auffret A G, Plue J. 2014. Scale-dependent diversity effects of seed dispersal by a wild herbivore in fragmented grasslands. Oecologia, 175(1): 305–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bekker R M, Bakker J P, Grandin U, et al. 1998. Seed size, shape and vertical distribution in the soil: indicators of seed longevity. Functional Ecology, 12(5): 834–842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burmeier S, Eckstein R L, Otte A, et al. 2010. Desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps in flood-meadow systems. Plant and Soil, 333(1): 351–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caballero I, Olano J M, Loidi J, et al. 2003. Seed bank structure along a semi-arid gypsum gradient in Central Spain. Journal of Arid Environments, 55(2): 287–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caballero I, Olano J M, Escudero A, et al. 2008. Seed bank spatial structure in semi-arid environments: beyond the patch-bare area dichotomy. Plant Ecology, 195(2): 215–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decocq G, Valentin B, Toussaint B, et al. 2004. Soil seed bank composition and diversity in a managed temperate deciduous forest. Biodiversity and Conservation, 13(13): 2485–2509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deines L, Rosentreter R, Eldridge D J, et al. 2007. Germination and seedling establishment of two annual grasses on lichen-dominated biological soil crusts. Plant and Soil, 295(1–2): 23–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devictor V, Moret J, Machon N. 2007. Impact of ploughing on soil seed bank dynamics in temporary pools. Plant Ecology, 192(1): 45–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Espinar J L, Thompson K, García L V. 2005. Timing of seed dispersal generates a bimodal seed bank depth distribution. American Journal of Botany, 92(10): 1759–1763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Fayos P, Engelbrecht M, Bochet E. 2013. Post-dispersal seed anchorage to soil in semiarid plant communities, a test of the hypothesis of Ellner and Shmida. Plant Ecology, 214(7): 941–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigg A M, Veneklaas E J, Lambers H. 2008. Water relations and mineral nutrition of closely related woody plant species on desert dunes and interdunes. Australian Journal of Botany, 56(1): 27–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez R R, Sandquist D R. 2011. Disturbance of biological soil crust increases emergence of exotic vascular plants in California sage scrub. Plant Ecology, 212(10): 1709–1721.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang Z Y, Gutterman Y. 1998. Artemisia monosperma achene germination in sand: effects of sand depth, sand/water content, cyanobacterial sand crust and temperature. Journal of Arid Environments, 38(1): 27–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyatt L A, Casper B B. 2000. Seed bank formation during early secondary succession in a temperate deciduous forest. Journal of Ecology, 88(3): 516–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joubert E C, Harms T M, Muller A, et al. 2012. A CFD study of wind patterns over a desert dune and the effect on seed dispersion. Environmental Fluid Mechanics, 12(1): 23–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimball S, Angert A, Huxman T E, et al. 2010. Contemporary climate change in the Sonoran Desert favors cold-adapted species. Global Change Biology, 16(5): 1555–1565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawton R O, Putz F E. 1988. Natural disturbance and gap-phase regeneration in a wind-exposed tropical cloud forest. Ecology, 69(3): 764–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leicht-Young S A, Pavlovic N B, Grundel R, et al. 2009. A comparison of seed banks across a sand dune successional gradient at Lake Michigan dunes (Indiana, USA). Plant Ecology, 202(2): 299–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li C M, Long L, Xu C L, et al. 2015. Characteristics of soil seed banks of alpine meadow under different degradation degrees in eastern Qilian Mountains. Acta Agrestia Sinica, 23(5): 957–962. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Feng G, Tian C Y. 2007. Characteristics and dynamics of the soil seed bank at the north edge of Taklimakan Desert. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 50(Suppl. 1): 122–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y Y, Dong S K, Wen L, et al. 2012. Soil seed banks in degraded and revegetated grasslands in the alpine region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Ecological Engineering, 49: 77–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindner A. 2009. A rapid assessment approach on soil seed banks of Atlantic forest sites with different disturbance history in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ecological Engineering, 35(5): 829–835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu H L, Shi X, Wang J C, et al. 2011. Effects of sand burial, soil water content and distribution pattern of seeds in sand on seed germination and seedling survival of Eremosparton songoricum (Fabaceae), a rare species inhabiting the moving sand dunes of the Gurbantunggut Desert of China. Plant and Soil, 345(1–2): 69–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Q Y, Jiang M, Lü X G, et al. 2014. A review of similarity between soil seed bank and aboveground vegetation in wetlands. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 34(24): 7465–7474. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo N, Liu Z C, Yu H, et al. 2016. Regional differences in plant diversity in the southern Gurbantonggut desert. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 36(12): 3572–3581. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma J L, Liu Z M. 2008. Spatiotemporal pattern of seed bank in the annual psammophyte Agriophyllum squarrosum Moq. (Chenopodiaceae) on the active sand dunes of northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Plant and Soil, 311(1): 97–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miao C P, Li X H, Jia M Y, et al. 2016. Spatial structure and species composition of soil seed banks in moving sand dune systems of northeast China. Journal of Forestry Research, 27(1): 75–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker K C. 1988. Environmental relationships and vegetation associates of Columnar cacti in the northern Sonoran Desert. Vegetatio, 78(3): 125–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prasse R, Bornkamm R. 2000. Effect of microbiotic soil surface crusts on emergence of vascular plants. Plant Ecology, 150(1–2): 65–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian Y B, Wu Z N, Wang Z C, et al. 2013. Relationship of spatial heterogeneity for vegetation and Aeolian sand soil properties on longitudinal dunes in Gurbantunggut Desert, China. Environmental Earth Sciences, 69(6): 2027–2036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruano I, del Peso C, Bravo F. 2015. Post-dispersal predation of Pinus pinaster Aiton seeds: key factors and effects on belowground seed bank. European Journal of Forest Research, 134(2): 309–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shang Z H, Yang S H, Wang Y L, et al. 2016. Soil seed bank and its relation with above-ground vegetation along the degraded gradients of alpine meadow. Ecological Engineering, 90: 268–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song Y Y, Zhou C B, Zhang W H. 2011. Vegetation coverage, species richness, and dune stability in the southern part of Gurbantünggüt Desert. Ecological Research, 26(1): 79–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprengelmeyer E E, Rebertus A J. 2015. Seed bank dynamics in relation to disturbance and landscape for an ant-dispersed species. Plant Ecology, 216(3): 371–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K, Baster K. 1992. Establishment from seed of selected Umbelliferae in unmanaged grassland. Functional Ecology, 6(3): 346–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson S E, Assouline S, Chen L, et al. 2014. Secondary dispersal driven by overland flow in drylands: review and mechanistic model development. Movement Ecology, 2: 7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang N, Jiao J Y, Jia Y F, et al. 2010. Germinable soil seed banks and the restoration potential of abandoned cropland on the Chinese Hilly-Gullied Loess plateau. Environmental Management, 46(3): 367–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X Q, Jiang J, Lei J Q, et al. 2003. The distribution of ephemeral vegetation on the longitudinal dune surface and its stabilization significance in the Gurbantunggut Desert. Acta Geographica Sinica, 58(4): 598–605. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang X Q, Zhang Y M, Jiang J, et al. 2009. Effects of spring-summer grazing on longitudinal dune surface in southern Gurbantunggut Desert. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 19(3): 299–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y. 1993. Phenological observation of the early spring ephemeral and ephemeroid plant in Xinjiang. Arid Zone Research, 10(3): 34–39. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu T, Wang X Q, Gai S G, et al. 2009. Effect of grazing in spring-summer on soil seed bank and vegetation in southern part of Gurbantunggut Desert. Journal of Desert Research, 29(3): 499–507. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xing X M, Ma X D, Zhang Y M. 2016. Effects of biological soil crusts on soil seed bank diversity and distribution characteristics in Gurbantunggut Desert. Chinese Journal of Ecology, 35(3): 612–620. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan Q L, Liu Z M, Zhu J J, et al. 2005. Structure, pattern and mechanisms of formation of seed banks in sand dune systems in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Plant and Soil, 277(1–2): 175–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan Q L, Liu Z M, Zhu J J. 2009. Temporal variation of soil seed banks in two different dune systems in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Environmental Geology, 58(3): 615–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu S L, Sternberg M, Jiang G M, et al. 2003. Heterogeneity in soil seed banks in a Mediterranean coastal sand dune. Acta Botanica Sinica, 45(5): 536–543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J Y, Wu Y X. 2014. Changes in diversity and importance of clonal plants during sand dune succession in northeastern China. Ecological Research, 29(3): 393–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang R, Liu T. 2012. Plant species diversity and community classification in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 32(19): 6056–6066. (in Chinese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T, Tian C Y, Sun Y, et al. 2006. Soil seed banks of ephemerals in the Gurbantunggut Desert area. Arid Land Geography, 29(5): 675–681. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y F, Zhang D Y. 2007. Asexual and sexual reproductive strategies in clonal plants. Frontiers of Biology in China, 2(3): 256–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y M, Belnap J. 2015. Growth responses of five desert plants as influenced by biological soil crusts from a temperate desert, China. Ecological Research, 30(6): 1037–1045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571256), the National Natural Science Foundation of China–Xinjiang Mutual Funds (U1503101) and the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang, China (2015211C292). We thank all the members of the Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences for their assistance in the field.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Fengqin Jia, Nan Wu, Changyan Tian & Yuanming Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology/Resources and Environment Department, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China

    Fengqin Jia & Tashpolat Tiyip

  3. Tourism College, Urumqi Vocational University, Urumqi, 830002, China

    Fengqin Jia

Authors
  1. Fengqin Jia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tashpolat Tiyip
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nan Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Changyan Tian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yuanming Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuanming Zhang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jia, F., Tiyip, T., Wu, N. et al. Characteristics of soil seed banks at different geomorphic positions within the longitudinal sand dunes of the Gurbantunggut Desert, China. J. Arid Land 9, 355–367 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-017-0055-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-017-0055-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation