Seed ecology of selected Amazon Basin successional species.

C. Uhl, K. Clark

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

55 Scopus citations

Abstract

Two adjacent forest sites-a mixed forest on well-drained Oxisols and a caatinga forest on waterlogged Spodosols-were similar in the number of viable seeds m-2 in the seed bank: 180 for the mixed-forest site, 200 for the caatinga site. Most germinated seeds were of successional pioneer tree species. Seeds were entering the mixed-forest seed bank at a rate of approx 50 seeds m-2 yr-1. Agricultural and pasture sites tended to have larger seed banks (580-1250 viable seeds m-2) composed almost entirely of grasses and forbs. By coupling an absolute light requirement for germination with long-lived seeds, successional species of the upper Rio Negro region are able to persist in the soil seed bank until conditions favor their successful establishment.-from Authors

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)419-425
Number of pages7
JournalBotanical Gazette
Volume144
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 1983

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Environmental Science
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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