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Effect of flooding gradient on soil seedbank and standing vegetation in a disconnecting side channel of the Loire River (France)

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Abstract

This research aimed to disentangle the role of the connectivity gradient as a dispersal and environmental filter. This was done by comparing community composition and plant strategies (i.e. competition, stress-tolerance and ruderalness) in the soil seedbank (SSB) to that in the standing vegetation (SV). The study took place in a disconnecting side channel of the Loire River (France). SV was recorded in-situ and SSB was analyzed using the seedling emergence method. Seedbank density was 512.80 (SD = 329.43) seeds per m2, species richness was similar in SSB and SV (42 and 43, respectively), and overall Sørensen similarity between both compartments was 0.45. Species composition in the soil seed bank differed between banks and thalweg while in SV it differed moreover along the side channel. With regard to Grime’s C–S–R strategies, ruderal strategy dominated in the SSB, while environmental filters favored stress-tolerators in the SV. Usual indicators in seedbank studies (species richness, density and similarity) were inefficient to describe processes. Results moreover highlighted the prevalence of lotic over lentic conditions in structuring seedbanks and standing vegetation.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Change history

  • 12 February 2022

    In the Author Contributions section the names have been stated in full

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Mathilde Champigny for field and laboratory works. This work was performed within the framework of the Loire Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER—Zone Atelier Loire). We thank the reviewers for their constructive comments about the manuscript.

Funding

This study is part of the PhD thesis of Gaudichet C. included in the R-TEMUS Bio project, funded by the Agence de l’Eau Loire-Bretagne (convention n°2017C005), the Région Centre-Val de Loire and the Région Pays de la Loire (convention n°2018–09882).

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  1. Interdisciplinary Research Center Cities, Territories, Environment and Society, (UMR CNRS 7324 CITERES), University of Tours, MSH Villes et Territoires, 33-35 Allée Ferdinand de Lesseps, 37200, Tours, France

    Corentin Gaudichet, Sabine Greulich, Séraphine Grellier & Stéphane Rodrigues

  2. Department of Planning and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering of the University of Tours (Polytech Tours), Tours, France

    Sabine Greulich, Séraphine Grellier & Stéphane Rodrigues

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  1. Corentin Gaudichet
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C. Gaudichet and S. Greulich, conceived and designed the study. C. Gaudichet, S. Grellier and S. Greulich worked on data collection and analysis. C. Gaudichet wrote the manuscript in consultation with S. Greulich. S. Grellier and S. Rodrigues provided substantial comments and feedbacks on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Corentin Gaudichet.

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Gaudichet, C., Greulich, S., Grellier, S. et al. Effect of flooding gradient on soil seedbank and standing vegetation in a disconnecting side channel of the Loire River (France). Hydrobiologia 849, 1383–1396 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04785-6

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