Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China

To solve the serious soil erosion problem on the Loess Plateau, large-scale reforestation efforts have been carried out in the past few decades. However, previous studies on the species diversity of these reforestation plantations focused mainly on the aboveground vegetation while ignoring the value...

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Autores principales:	Yao Zhao, Meng Li, Jiayong Deng, Baitian Wang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Plantations Soil properties Understory vegetation Soil seed bank Diversity Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0abd1a85e5414bd9aebe6a48a3dd97f3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0abd1a85e5414bd9aebe6a48a3dd97f32021-12-01T04:50:54ZAfforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107670https://doaj.org/article/0abd1a85e5414bd9aebe6a48a3dd97f32021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21003356https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XTo solve the serious soil erosion problem on the Loess Plateau, large-scale reforestation efforts have been carried out in the past few decades. However, previous studies on the species diversity of these reforestation plantations focused mainly on the aboveground vegetation while ignoring the value of soil seed banks for diversity conservation. An understanding of the determinants of the soil seed banks is particularly lacking. We investigated the compositional characteristics of understory plants and soil seed banks in rehabilitation areas with different vegetation types in the Caijiachuan watershed in Shanxi, China. The results indicated that the understory vegetation and soil seed banks differed significantly among the different vegetation types. The rehabilitation effect of plantations was significantly better than that of naturally restored abandoned farmland, while the selection of afforestation tree species was also crucial. In this respect, coniferous forests (Pinus tabulaeformis) were not as effective as broad-leaved forests (Robinia pseudoacacia) and mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests in terms of vegetation recovery. In addition, there were significant differences between the composition of the seed bank and the actual vegetation, but the soil seed banks in the plantations may nonetheless contribute to the reconstruction of the aboveground vegetation; the R. pseudoacacia forest and mixed forest showed greater regeneration potential from the seed bank. Afforestation significantly affected the composition and structure of the understory plant and seed banks by altering the understory habitat. Correspondingly, we inferred that afforestation may restrict the development of understory plants and seed banks mainly by regulating soil moisture and canopy density. Therefore, in vegetation communities with high afforestation density or canopy density, measures such as thinning or pruning should be implemented to provide suitable habitat for understory plant growth and seed germination. In addition, most plantations in this area are composed of a single tree species, so we suggest that human interventions to promote the conversion of single-species plantations to diversified or uneven-aged forests should be performed.Yao ZhaoMeng LiJiayong DengBaitian WangElsevierarticlePlantationsSoil propertiesUnderstory vegetationSoil seed bankDiversityEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 126, Iss , Pp 107670- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Plantations Soil properties Understory vegetation Soil seed bank Diversity Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Plantations Soil properties Understory vegetation Soil seed bank Diversity Ecology QH540-549.5 Yao Zhao Meng Li Jiayong Deng Baitian Wang Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China
description	To solve the serious soil erosion problem on the Loess Plateau, large-scale reforestation efforts have been carried out in the past few decades. However, previous studies on the species diversity of these reforestation plantations focused mainly on the aboveground vegetation while ignoring the value of soil seed banks for diversity conservation. An understanding of the determinants of the soil seed banks is particularly lacking. We investigated the compositional characteristics of understory plants and soil seed banks in rehabilitation areas with different vegetation types in the Caijiachuan watershed in Shanxi, China. The results indicated that the understory vegetation and soil seed banks differed significantly among the different vegetation types. The rehabilitation effect of plantations was significantly better than that of naturally restored abandoned farmland, while the selection of afforestation tree species was also crucial. In this respect, coniferous forests (Pinus tabulaeformis) were not as effective as broad-leaved forests (Robinia pseudoacacia) and mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests in terms of vegetation recovery. In addition, there were significant differences between the composition of the seed bank and the actual vegetation, but the soil seed banks in the plantations may nonetheless contribute to the reconstruction of the aboveground vegetation; the R. pseudoacacia forest and mixed forest showed greater regeneration potential from the seed bank. Afforestation significantly affected the composition and structure of the understory plant and seed banks by altering the understory habitat. Correspondingly, we inferred that afforestation may restrict the development of understory plants and seed banks mainly by regulating soil moisture and canopy density. Therefore, in vegetation communities with high afforestation density or canopy density, measures such as thinning or pruning should be implemented to provide suitable habitat for understory plant growth and seed germination. In addition, most plantations in this area are composed of a single tree species, so we suggest that human interventions to promote the conversion of single-species plantations to diversified or uneven-aged forests should be performed.
format	article
author	Yao Zhao Meng Li Jiayong Deng Baitian Wang
author_facet	Yao Zhao Meng Li Jiayong Deng Baitian Wang
author_sort	Yao Zhao
title	Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China
title_short	Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China
title_full	Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China
title_fullStr	Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China
title_full_unstemmed	Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China
title_sort	afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern loess plateau, china
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/0abd1a85e5414bd9aebe6a48a3dd97f3
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Afforestation affects soil seed banks by altering soil properties and understory plants on the eastern Loess Plateau, China

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