Abstract
Gaps in grassland created by animals are often sites for species regeneration. The persistent seed banks of ant-hills and surrounding soils in a calcareous grassland in southern Britain were compared and analysed in terms of seed mass and longevity. The relative abundance of species on ant-hills compared to the pasture was highly correlated with seed abundance in ant-hill soil. The abundance of plant species on ant-hills compared to the pasture was significantly negatively correlated with seed mass, and positively correlated with seed longevity. These results suggest that germination from the seed bank in ant-hill soils, as well as limited seed dispersal and vegetative invasion, contributes to the distinctive ant-hill vegetation. The same may apply to other gaps created by animals in grasslands.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Ken Thompson and Peter Grubb for discussions and to the Nuffield Foundation and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge for financial support.
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King, T.J. The roles of seed mass and persistent seed banks in gap colonisation in grassland. Plant Ecol 193, 233–239 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-006-9261-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-006-9261-x