J Plant Ecol ›› 2021, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (4): 605-615 .DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtab014

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Differences between species in seed bank and vegetation helps to hold functional diversity in a floodable Neotropical savanna

Evaldo B. de Souza1, *, Francielli Bao2, Geraldo A. Damasceno Junior1,3, and Arnildo Pott3   

  1. 1 Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil, 2 Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil, 3 Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil

    *Corresponding author. E-mail: bs.evaldo@gmail.com
  • Received:2020-05-21 Revised:2020-09-27 Accepted:2021-01-25 Online:2021-02-16 Published:2021-08-01

Abstract:

Aims

Our objective was to quantify the contributions of the seed bank and the established vegetation to the species composition, functional composition and diversity, and discuss the implications of these differences in regeneration and persistence of floodplain plant communities.

Methods

We sampled all ground cover vegetation up to 1.5 m height and seed bank in 25 plots (10 m × 1 m) distributed across five sites in dry and rainy seasons in a periodically flooded savanna in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. We evaluated the soil seed bank by seedling emergence method.

Important Findings

The seed bank species had traits that conferred regeneration to the communities, while persistence traits characterized the vegetation. The seed bank had higher functional richness and lower functional evenness than the vegetation. The existence of different plant traits between seed bank and vegetation allowed the coexistence of species with functionally contrasting persistence and regeneration traits, which may help maintain functional diversity. It may allow the community to be more resilient when dealing with different environmental filters such as drought, fire and flood.

Key words: environmental filters, functional diversity, hydrochoric dispersal, Pantanal wetland, persistence, regeneration

摘要:
种子库和植被物种之间的差异有助于保持新热带稀树草原的功能多样性
本研究的目的是量化种子库和建立的植被对物种组成、功能组成和多样性的贡献,并讨论这些差异对冲积平原植物群落更新和稳定性的影响。我们在巴西潘塔纳尔湿地的一个周期性洪水泛滥的稀树大草原上,在旱季和雨季对分布在5个地点的25个地块(10 m × 1 m)的1.5 m高度的地面覆盖植被和种子库进行了采样。采用出苗法对土壤种子库进行了评价。研究结果表明,种子库物种具有赋予群落更新的特征,而植被则具有稳定性特征。种子库的功能丰富度高于植被,而功能均匀度则低于植被。由于种子库和植被的植物特征不同,使得具有不同功能稳定性和更新特性的物种得以共存,这将有助于维持植物的功能多样性。这可能会让植物种群在应对干旱、火灾和洪水等不同的环境选择时更具有弹性。

关键词: 环境选择, 功能多样性, 水溶扩散, 潘塔纳尔湿地, 稳定性, 更新