Mature forests harbor long-lived soil seed banks of pioneer species awaiting disturbance

Evidence

Abundant dispersal of pioneer seeds with disturbance-cued germination creates a soil seed bank in mature forests. Numerous experiments, typically consisting of soil transfer from beneath to outside the forest canopy, have demonstrated the preva­ lence of viable pioneer seeds in the soil (Symington, 1933, cited in Richards, 1952; Keay, 1960; Blum, 1968; C. R. Bell, 1970; Guevara and Gomez-Pompa, 1972; Liew, 1973; Cheke et al, 1979; Hall and Swaine, 1980; Holthuijzen and Boerboom, 1982; Uhl, 1982a; Putz, 1983). Densities can be quite high but vary greatly from point to point (Ewel et al, 1981). — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 440

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘soil seed bank’ concept central to gap-regeneration vocabulary.
• XREF: The dormant-but-armed soil seed bank is a strong ‘what happened here’ reading device for the landscape course. — connects to: Soil infertility shifts tree death mode away from uprooting and blocks pioneers — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 477; Disturbance resource boosts are transient pulses that pioneer traits exploit — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1261; Insects make irregular forest disturbance more regular so ruderal species persist — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1581 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Disturbance resource boosts are transient pulses that pioneer traits exploit #expands (0.85) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1261
• Soil infertility shifts tree death mode away from uprooting and blocks pioneers #qualifies (0.82) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 477
• Clear-cut ground disappears within weeks under fast pioneer plants engineered for reproduction #exemplifies (0.82) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1046
• Primary species win by persisting under closed canopy rather than growing fast in gaps #corroborates (0.78) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 467
• Insects make irregular forest disturbance more regular so ruderal species persist #complicates (0.75) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1581
• Severe disturbance plus low resource base can reduce species richness #qualifies (0.72) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2259