Tigabu, Mulualem
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
The natural regeneration of native broadleaved species underneath forest monoculture plantations is important to recover ecosystem functions and to mitigate adverse environmental effects. To understand how seed rain and soil seed bank facilitate natural regeneration, we surveyed their density and composition in a monoculture Chinese fir plantation, a mixed Chinese fir-broadleaf plantation, and an adjacent natural broadleaved forest for two years in southern China. Twenty-eight species (16 families) were in seed rain, and 45 species (27 families) were in soil seed bank. Seed rain density did not differ significantly across stands; however, the number of taxa in seed rain was highest in the mixed plantation and lowest in the natural forest. Seed bank density was significantly higher in the mixed plantation than in the other stands (p < .05). The Sorensen similarity index of species composition between seed sources and aboveground vegetation were relatively low (
afforestation; conifers; ecological restoration; mixed plantation; Sorensen similarity index; subtropical forests
Ecology and Evolution
2022, volume: 12, number: 1, article number: e8539
Publisher: WILEY
Forest Science
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/116321