Abstract
Forest age has been reported to be a determining factor affecting species richness and composition or population abundance in forests and soil seed banks in fragmented landscapes. In this study, we characterized species richness, density, and floristic composition of the above-ground vegetation and the seed bank in young and mature forest fragments in a semi-arid region of north-eastern Brazil. Forty plots were set up in the mature forest and 40 in the young forest. Herbaceous species and seedlings and juveniles of woody species up to 1 m in height were included in the sampling of above-ground vegetation. Seed bank samples including leaf litter were collected and maintained in a greenhouse for 6 months. Our findings indicated a similarity in species richness between seed bank and above-ground vegetation. The floristic composition of the seed bank was similar from that of the above-ground vegetation throughout succession. The mean density of the seed bank was higher than that of the above-ground vegetation in both forests. Therefore, only a subset of the seeds stored in the soil seemed to consistently contribute to the natural regeneration of forests.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alcoforado-Filho FG, Sampaio EVSB, Rodal MJN (2003) Florística e fitossociologia de um remanescente de vegetação caducifólia espinhosa arbórea em Caruaru, Pernambuco. Acta Bot Bras 17:287–303. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062003000200011
Alvarez-Aquino C, Barradas-Sánchez L, Ponce-González O, Williams-Linera G (2014) Soil seed bank, seed removal, and germination in a seasonally dry tropical forest in Veracruz, Mexico. Bot Sci 92:147–153. https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.42
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) (2016) An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV. Bot J Linn Soc 181:1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/boj.12385
Araújo EL, Castro CC, Albuquerque UP (2007) Dynamics of Brazilian Caatinga—a review concerning the plants, environment and people. Func Ecosyst Commun 1:15–28
Araújo VKR, Santos JMFF, Araújo EL, Pimentel RMM, Silva KA (2017) Influence of leaf morphometric variations on the growth of seedlings and juveniles of woody species in a semiarid environment. Braz J Bot 40:1019–1028. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-017-0398-8
Castelletti CHM, Santos AMM, Tabarelli M, Silva JMC (2003) Quanto ainda resta da caatinga? Uma estimativa preliminar. In: Leal IR, Tabarelli M, Silva JMC (eds) Ecologia e Conservação da Caatinga. Editora Universitária da UFPE, Recife, pp 719–734
Cervantes M, Ceccon E, Consuelo B (2014) Germination of stored seeds of four tree species from the tropical dry forest of Morelos, Mexico. Bot Sci 92:281–287. https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.96
Clarke KR, Gorley RN (2006) Primer v6: user manual/tutorial. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth
Davies RJ, Whalen MA, Macklay DA, Taylor D, Pisanu P (2013) Does soil seed bank diversity limit post-fire regeneration in small, fragmented, long-unburnt remnants of fire adapted vegetation? Biol Conserv 158:287–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.08.013
Drake DR (1998) Relationships among the seed rain, seed bank and vegetation of a Hawaiian forest. J Veg Sci 9:103–112. https://doi.org/10.2307/3237228
Ferreras AE, Giorgis MA, Tecco PA, Cabido MR, Funes G (2015) A impact of Ligustrum lucidum on the soil seed bank in invaded subtropical seasonally dry woodlands (Cordoba, Argentina). Biol Invasions 17:3547–3561. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-0977-1
Gioria MJ, Pyskek P (2014) Impact of invasions by alien plants on soil seed bank communities: emerging plants. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 16:132–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2014.03.003
Heydari M, Pothier D, Faramarzi M, Merzaei J (2014) Short-term abandonment of human disturbances in Zagros Oak Forest ecosystems: effects on secondary succession of soil seed bank and aboveground vegetation. Biodiversitas 15:147–161. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d150206
Hopfensperger KN (2007) A review of similarity between seed bank and standing vegetation across ecosystems. Oikos 116:1438–1448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2007.15818.x
Jeltsch F, Weber GE, Grimm V (2000) Ecological buffering mechanisms in savannas: a unifying theory of long-term tree-grass coexistence. Plant Ecol 161:161–171. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026590806682
Kassahun A, Snyman HA, Smit GN (2009) Soil seed bank evaluation along a degradation gradient in arid rangelands of the Somali region, Eastern Ethiopia. Agric Ecosyst Environ 129:428–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2008.10.016
Krebs CJ (1989) Ecological methodology. Harper & Row Publishers, New York
Li X, Jiang D, Zhou Q, Oshida T (2014) Soil seed bank characteristics beneath an age sequence of Caragana microphylla shrubs in the Horqin sandy land region of northeastern China. Land Degrad Dev 25:236–243. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2135
Lopes CGR, Ferraz EMN, Castro CC, Lima EL, Santos JMFF, Santos DM, Araújo EL (2012) Forest succession and distance from preserved patches in the Brazilian semiarid region. For Ecol Manag 271:115–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.01.043
Loydi A, Zalba MS, Distel AR (2012) Viable seed banks under grazing and exclosure conditions in montane mesic grasslands of Argentina. Acta Oecol 43:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2012.05.002
Martinez-Duro E, Luzuriaga AL, Ferrandis P, Escudero A, Herranz JM (2012) Does aboveground vegetation composition resemble soil seed bank during succession in specialized vegetation on gypsum soil? Ecol Res 27:43–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-011-0870-z
Mccullagh P, Nelder JA (1989) Generalized linear models. 2nd. London, CRC press
Meave JA, Flores-Rodríguez C, Pérez-García EA, Romero-Romero MA (2012) Edaphic and seasonal heterogeneity of seed banks in agricultural fields in a dry tropical forest region in southern Mexico. Bot Sci 90:313–329. https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.393
Price JN, Morgan JW (2007) Vegetation dynamics following resource manipulation in herb-rich woodland. Plant Ecol 18:29–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-006-9145-0
Reiné R, Chocarro C, Fillat F (2004) Soil seed bank and management regimes of semi-natural mountain meadow communities. Agric Ecosyst Environ 104:567–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2004.01.024
Reis AM, Araújo EL, Ferraz EMN, Moura AN (2006) Inter-annual variations in the floristic and population structure of herbaceous community of “caatinga” vegetation in Pernambuco, Brazil. Braz J Bot 29:497–508. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-84042006000300017
Santos DM, Silva KA, Albuquerque UP, Santos JMFF, Lopes CGR, Araújo EL (2013a) Can spatial variation and inter-annual variation in precipitation explain the seed density and species richness of the germinable soil seed bank in a tropical dry forest in north-eastern Brazil? Flora 208:445–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2013.07.006
Santos JMFF, Santos DM, Lopes CGR, Silva KA, Sampaio EVSB, Araújo EL (2013b) Natural regeneration of the herbaceous community in a semiarid region in Northeastern Brazil. Environ Monit Assess 185:8287–8302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3173-8
Santos DM, Silva KA, Santos JMFF, Araújo VKR, Araújo EL (2016) Composition, species richness, and density of the germinable seed bank over 4 years in young and mature forests in Brazilian semiarid regions. J Arid Environ 129:93–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.02.012
Savadogo P, Sanou L, Dayamba SD, Bognounou F, Thiombiano A (2016) Relationships between soil seed banks and above-ground vegetation along a disturbance gradient in the W National Park trans-boundary biosphere reserve, West African. J Plant Ecol 2:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtw025
Silva KA, Santos DM, Santos JMFF, Albuquerque UP, Ferraz EMN, Araújo EL (2013) Spatio-temporal variation in a seed bank of a semi-arid region in northeastern Brazil. Acta Oecol 46:25–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2012.10.008
Silva KA, Santos JMFF, Santos DM, Andrade JR, Ferraz EMN, Araújo EL (2015) Interactions between the herbaceous and shrubby-arboreal components in a semiarid region in the northeast of brazil: competition or facilitation? Rev Caatinga 28:157–165. https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-21252015v28n318rc
Sujarwo W, Arinasa IBK (2013) Diversity of plants naturally grow in tropical dry forest (T-df) of Bukit Jimbaran Bali. J T I 36:87–96. https://doi.org/10.14203/jti.v36i2.203
Tessema ZK, Boer WF, Baars RM, Prins HH (2012) Influence of grazing on soil seed banks determines the restoration potential of aboveground vegetation in a semiarid savanna of Ethiopia. Biotropica 34:211–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00780.x
Tews J, Esther A, Milton SJ, Jeltsch F (2006) Linking a population model with an ecosystem model: assessing the impact of land use and climate change on savanna shrub cover dynamics. Ecol Modell 195:219–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2005.11.025
Trilleras JM, Jaramillo VJ, Vega EV, Balvanera P (2015) Effects of livestock management on the supply of ecosystem services in pastures in a tropical dry region of western, Mexico. Agric Ecosyst Environ 211:133–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.06.011
Valenta K, Steffens TS, Rafaliarisor RR, Chapman CA, Lehman SM (2015) Seed Banks in Savanna, forest fragments, and continuous forest edges differ in a tropical dry forest in madagascar. Biotropica 47:435–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12228
Young KR, Ewel JJ, Brown BJ (1987) Seed dynamics during forest succession in Costa Rica. Vegetatio 71:157–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00039168
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Institute of Agriculture and Livestock Research (IPA) for logistic support; researchers of the Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Northeastern Ecosystems (LEVEN) for support during field work and data analysis; and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES–PNPD) and Pernambuco Science and Technology Foundation (FACEPE—Process: APQ-0083-2.05/15 and DCR/CNPq Scholarship) for financial support and fellowships.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arthur do Nascimento Oliveira, P., Maria Falção Fraga dos Santos, J., de Lima Araújo, E. et al. Natural regeneration of the vegetation of an abandoned agricultural field in a semi-arid region: a focus on seed bank and above-ground vegetation. Braz. J. Bot 42, 43–51 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-018-0510-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-018-0510-8