Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:16:56.012Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seed survival for three decades under thick tephra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2010

Shiro Tsuyuzaki
Shiro Tsuyuzaki*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
*
*Correspondence Fax: +81 11 706 2283 Email: stsuyu@ees.hokudai.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Seed longevity in situ is a prerequisite for understanding the life histories and community dynamics of species, although long-term longevity under thick tephra has not been documented because of a lack of opportunity and/or awareness. The seed bank for this study was estimated by both germination and flotation tests. Seeds of 17 species have survived with high density, having been buried under thick tephra for 30 years, since the 1977–1978 eruptions on Mount Usu, Hokkaido Island, northern Japan. The total seed density was >1000/m2. Rumex obtusifolius was the most common seed-bank species for 30 years, but decreased in density between 20 and 30 years. More seeds of Hypericum erectum occurred in deeper soil. The total seed density decreased gradually for 30 years, but H. erectum and Juncus effusus did not decline. Native seeds tended to be viable longer than exotic seeds. These results suggest that small, native seeds tend to survive longer with deep burial, while the more numerous weedy, exotic seeds located at the soil surface declined faster. The seed bank provides long-term monitoring of seed survival under natural conditions, and could be used to detect genetic changes.

Keywords

Hypericum erectumJuncus effususMount UsuRumex obtusifoliusseed longevityspatial heterogeneitytephravolcano
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 201 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds – ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, California, USA, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bekker, R.M., Knevel, I.C., Tallowin, J.B.R., Troost, E.M.L. and Bakker, J.P. (1998a) Soil nutrient input effects on seed longevity: a burial experiment with fen-meadow species. Functional Ecology 12, 673–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bekker, R.M., Bakker, J.P., Grandin, U., Kalamees, R., Milberg, P., Poschlod, P., Thompson, K. and Willems, J.H. (1998b) Seed size, shape and vertical distribution in the soil: indicators of seed longevity. Functional Ecology 12, 834–842.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benvenuti, S., Macchia, M. and Miele, M. (2001) Light, temperature and burial depth effects on Rumex obtusifolius seed germination and emergence. Weed Research 41, 177–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colwell, R.K. and Coddington, J.A. (1994) Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B 345, 101–118.Google ScholarPubMed
Guo, Q. (2003) Disturbance, life history, and optimal management for biodiversity. Ambio 32, 428–430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holzel, N. and Otte, A. (2004) Assessing soil seed bank persistence in flood-meadows: the search for reliable traits. Journal of Vegetation Science 15, 93–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishikawa-Goto, M. and Tsuyuzaki, S. (2004) Methods of estimating seed banks with reference to long-term seed burial. Journal of Plant Research 117, 245–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jerling, L. (1983) Composition and viability of the seed bank along a successional gradient on a Baltic sea shore meadow. Holarctic Ecology 6, 150–156.Google Scholar
Leck, M.A., Parker, V.T. and Simpson, R.L. (1989) Ecology of soil seed banks. San Diego, California, USA, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Long, R.L., Steadman, K.J., Panetta, F.D. and Adkins, S.W. (2009) Soil type does not affect seed aging when soil water potential and temperature are controlled. Plant and Soil 320, 131–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGraw, J.B., Vavrek, M.C. and Bennington, C.C. (1991) Ecological genetic variation in seed banks I. Establishment of a time transect. Journal of Ecology 79, 617–625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriuchi, K.S., Venable, D.L., Pake, C.E. and Lange, T. (2000) Direct measurement of the seed bank age structure of a Sonoran desert annual plant. Ecology 81, 1133–1138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Probert, R.J., Daws, M.I. and Hay, F.R. (2009) Ecological correlates of ex situ seed longevity: a comparative study on 195 species. Annals of Botany 104, 57–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
R Development Core Team (2009) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria, R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google Scholar
Saatkamp, A., Affre, L., Dutoit, T. and Poschlod, P. (2009) The seed bank longevity index revisited: limited reliability evident from a burial experiment and database analysis. Annals of Botany 104, 715–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skoglund, J. and Hytteborn, H. (1990) Viable seeds in deposits of the former lakes Kvismaren and Hornborgasjon, Sweden. Aquatic Botany 37, 271–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stöcklin, J. and Fischer, M. (1999) Plants with longer-lived seeds have lower extinction rates in grassland communities 1950–1980. Oecologia 120, 539–543.Google Scholar
Telewski, F.W. and Zeevaart, J.A.D. (2002) The 120-yr period for Dr. Beal's seed viability experiment. American Journal of Botany 89, 1285–1288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, K., Bakker, J.P. and Bekker, R.M. (1997) The soil seed banks of north west Europe: methodology, density and longevity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, K., Jalili, A., Hodgson, J.G., Hamzeh'ee, B., Asri, Y., Shaw, S., Shirvany, A., Yazdani, S., Khoshnevis, M., Zarrinkamar, F., Ghahramani, M.-A. and Safavi, R. (2001) Seed size, shape and persistence in the soil in an Iranian flora. Seed Science Research 11, 345–355.Google Scholar
Tsuyuzaki, S. (1991) Survival characteristics of buried seeds 10 years after the eruption of the Usu volcano in northern Japan. Canadian Journal of Botany 69, 2251–2256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsuyuzaki, S. (1994) Rapid seed extraction from soils by a flotation method. Weed Research 34, 433–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsuyuzaki, S. (2009) Causes of plant community divergence in the early stages of volcanic succession. Journal of Vegetation Science 20, 959–969.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsuyuzaki, S. and Goto, M. (2001) Persistence of seed bank under thick volcanic deposits twenty years after eruptions of Mount Usu, Hokkaido Island, Japan. American Journal of Botany 88, 1813–1817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tsuyuzaki, S. and Miyoshi, C. (2009) Effects of smoke, heat, darkness and cold stratification on seed germination of 40 species in a cool temperate zone, northern Japan. Plant Biology 11, 369–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ugland, K.I., Gray, J.S. and Ellingsen, K.E. (2003) The species-accumulation curve and estimation of species richness. Journal of Animal Ecology 72, 888–897.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittaker, R.J., Partomihardjo, T. and Riswan, S. (1995) Surface and buried seed banks from Krakatau, Indonesia: implications for the sterilization hypothesis. Biotropica 27, 346–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaller, J.G. and Saxler, N. (2007) Selective vertical seed transport by earthworms: implications for the diversity of grassland ecosystems. European Journal of Soil Biology 43, S86–S91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar