Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9477544 | Aquatic Botany | 2005 | 11 Pages |
Abstract
Seed bank samples were collected from Huli Marsh, a subtropical shallow water mountainous marsh in Hunan Province, South China. Core samples were divided into upper and lower layers (each 5 cm in depth) and allowed to germinate in three water levels (0, 5 and 10 cm) over a 4-month period. A total of 51 species germinated and the mean density was 9211 ± 7188 seedlings mâ2. In the top 5 cm 41 species and 5747 ± 5111 seedlings mâ2 germinated, whereas 40 species and 3464 ± 3363 seedlings mâ2 did so from 5-10 cm. Germinated seedling density was significantly higher in the upper layer, largely due to differences in eight species. With increasing experimental water depth, less seedlings germinated: respectively, 9788 ± 7157 mâ2, 2050 ± 2412 mâ2 and 1978 ± 2616 mâ2, of 44, 21 and 19 species, submerged under 0, 5 or 10 cm. Seven species could emerge only in 0 water level. Vallisneria natans occurred only in 5 cm water, whereas Ottelia alismoides occurred in 10 cm water. In the vegetation survey of the marsh, 25 species were recorded, which was less than half of the species recorded in the seed bank. The top 10 dominants in the standing vegetation, accounting for 89% of vegetation abundance, represented only 10% in the seed bank. Twenty germinated species that also occurred in the standing vegetation accounted for 56% of the total seed bank. Our observed number of species germinating from a Chinese wetland seed bank is within the range observed elsewhere in the northern hemisphere (15-113 species).
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Aquatic Science
Authors
Gui-hua Liu, Jin Zhou, Wei Li, Yu Cheng,