Soil seed banks
by Chris, 23 May, 2014, 5 comments
The soil seed bank refers to the various seeds that are ‘stored’ in the soil of most ecosystems. Soil seed banks have always attracted interest because of the 'reservoir' of weed seeds in the soil and the economic implications of these. However, more recently ecologists and conservationists have looked at the role of seed banks in woodland and forest regeneration; and it may be that they can play a role in the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems.
Soil seeds may be placed in one of two broad categories
Transient species – where a seed only remains viable within the soil for a short period, perhaps only to the next opportunity for germination. For most purposes, seeds that remain viable for a year fall into this category i.e. for one germination season.
Persistent species – seeds that can remain viable within the soil for a longer period of time. Those that survive for between 1 and 5 years are termed short term persistent, whilst those that can remain viable for more than a year are termed long term persistent.
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