Responses of Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation to the Increasing Intensity of Human Disturbance in a Semi-Arid Region of Northern China
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Experimental Design and Measurement
2.3. Data Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Soil Seed Bank in the Four Land Use Types
3.2. Vegetation in the Four Land Use Types
3.3. Relationship between Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation
4. Discussion
4.1. Effects of Disturbance on Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation
4.2. Relationship between Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Family | Species Name | Life Style | Mean Number of Seeds/m−2 | Mean Plants/m−2 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Native Grassland | Abandoned Artificial Grassland | Artificial Grassland | Farmland | Native Grassland | Abandoned Artificial Grassland | Artificial Grassland | Farmland | |||
Amaranthaceae | Amaranthus lividus | A | 106 | |||||||
Amaranthus retroflexus | A | 170 | 50 | 8 | 434 | |||||
Chenopodium acuminatum | A | 8 | 30 | 12 | 12 | |||||
Asclepiadaceae | Cynanchum chinense | P | 18 | |||||||
Cynanchum thesioides | P | 4 | 2 | |||||||
Boraginaceae | Lappula myosotis | A/B | 14 | |||||||
Chenopodiaceae | Chenopodium album | A | 36 | 12 | 8 | 8 | ||||
Chenopodium aristatum | A | 18 | 20 | 128 | ||||||
Chenopodium glaucum | A | 14 | ||||||||
Chenopodium serotinum | A | 70 | 72 | 12 | 22 | |||||
Salsola collina | A | 6 | 4 | 412 | 8 | 21 | 2 | 4 | ||
Compositae | Artemisia annua | A | 144 | 236 | 386 | 16 | ||||
Artemisia capillaris | P | 4968 | 4232 | 1080 | 58 | 8 | 42 | 49 | ||
Artemisia lavandulaefolia | P | 808 | 656 | 496 | 14 | |||||
Artemisia leucophylla | P | 4 | 8 | 6 | ||||||
Artemisia sieversiana | A/B | 124 | 25 | |||||||
Cirsium setosum | P | 2 | ||||||||
Conyza canadensis | A | 4 | ||||||||
Inula japonica | P | 246 | 24 | |||||||
Ixeridium chinense | P | 14 | 4 | 6 | ||||||
Picris hieracioides | A/B | 16 | ||||||||
Saussurea amara | P | 6 | ||||||||
Sonchus arvensis | P | 4 | ||||||||
Sonchus oleraceus | A/B | 4 | 2 | |||||||
Convolvulaceae | Cuscuta chinensis | A | 4 | |||||||
Convolvulus arvensis | P | 2 | 3 | |||||||
Cyperaceae | Cyperus compressus | A | 18 | |||||||
Cyperus difformis | A | 158 | ||||||||
Cyperus fuscus | A | 60 | ||||||||
Cyperus glomeratus | A | 204 | ||||||||
Euphorbiaceae | Acalypha australis | A | 216 | 232 | 84 | 14 | ||||
Euphorbia humifusa | A | 16 | 44 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||
Fabaceae | Trifolium incarnatum | A | 22 | |||||||
Geraniaceae | Erodium stephanianum | P | 3 | |||||||
Gramineae | Calamagrostis epigeios | P | 14 | 14 | ||||||
Cleistogenes squarrosa | P | 25 | 6 | |||||||
Cleistogenes hackelii | P | 44 | 36 | 14 | 2 | |||||
Digitaria sanguinalis | A | 10 | 36 | 16 | 13 | 1 | ||||
Echinochloa crusgalli | A | 6 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 60 | 1 | |||
Elymus dahuricus | P | 29 | ||||||||
Elymus kamoji | P | 3 | ||||||||
Eleusine indica | A | 28 | 4 | 2 | ||||||
Eragrostis pilosa | A | 10 | 16 | 58 | 4 | 8 | ||||
Eriochloa villosa | A | 8 | ||||||||
Hemarthria altissima | P | 2 | ||||||||
Lysimachia barystachys | P | 26 | ||||||||
Pennisetum alopecuroides | P | 730 | ||||||||
Setaria viridis | A | 908 | 8 | 48 | 85 | 9 | 9 | 1 | ||
Setaria glauca | A | 2 | ||||||||
Stipa bungeana | P | 2 | ||||||||
Labiatae | Lagopsis supina | P | 268 | 4 | 95 | |||||
Leonurus japonicushoutt | A/B | 6 | ||||||||
Scutellaria regeliana | P | 17 | ||||||||
Leguminosae | Astragalus scaberrimus | A | 1 | |||||||
Lespedeza daurica | P | 18 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 16 | ||||
Medicago sativa | P | 8 | 8 | 91 | 110 | |||||
Melilotus officinalis | A/B | 98 | 8 | 16 | ||||||
Plantaginaceae | Plantago depressa | A/B | 44 | 16 | 1 | 3 | ||||
Polygonaceae | Polygonum aviculare | A | 270 | |||||||
Portulaca oleracea | A | 34 | 60 | |||||||
Ranunculaceae | Clematis intricata | P | 6 | |||||||
Rosaceae | Potentilla supina | A/B | 1280 | |||||||
Salicaceae | Salix matsudana | P | 192 | 112 | 122 | 132 | ||||
Scrophulariaceae | Rehmannia glutinosa | P | 24 | 58 | ||||||
Simaroubaceae | Ailanthus altissima | P | 8 | |||||||
Solanaceae | Solanum nigrum | A | 4 | |||||||
Ulmaceae | Ulmus pumila | P | 4 | |||||||
Violaceae | Viola prionantha | P | 6 | 4 | 110 | |||||
Zygophyllaceae | Tribulus terrester | A | 4 | 1 | 2 |
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Seed Bank Characteristics | Soil Depth (cm) | Native Grassland | Abandoned Artificial Grassland | Artificial Grassland | Farmland |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seed density (seed/m2) | 0–5 | 8428 ± 1585 a | 4710 ± 2030 ab | 2162 ± 100 b | 654 ± 409 c |
5–10 | 2596 ± 292 a | 1202 ± 378 ab | 944 ± 230 b | 450 ± 245 c | |
Total | 11,024 ± 1857 a | 5912 ± 2393 ab | 3106 ± 272 b | 1104 ± 650 c | |
Species richness | 0–5 | 17 ± 1 a | 11 ± 2 b | 12 ± 1 b | 6 ± 1 c |
5–10 | 14 ± 1 a | 11 ± 1 ab | 8 ± 1 bc | 5 ± 2 c | |
Total | 20 ± 1 a | 15 ± 1 b | 14 ± 1 b | 8 ± 2 c |
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Li, C.; Xiao, B.; Wang, Q.; Zheng, R.; Wu, J. Responses of Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation to the Increasing Intensity of Human Disturbance in a Semi-Arid Region of Northern China. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1837. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101837
Li C, Xiao B, Wang Q, Zheng R, Wu J. Responses of Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation to the Increasing Intensity of Human Disturbance in a Semi-Arid Region of Northern China. Sustainability. 2017; 9(10):1837. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101837
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Cui, Bo Xiao, Qinghai Wang, Ruilun Zheng, and Juying Wu. 2017. "Responses of Soil Seed Bank and Vegetation to the Increasing Intensity of Human Disturbance in a Semi-Arid Region of Northern China" Sustainability 9, no. 10: 1837. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101837