Vegetation and seed‐bank relationships on a lakeshore

Abstract

SUMMARY. Possible convergence in species richness and species composition between the (standing) vegetation and soil seed bank was studied along gradients of wave exposure, estimated as soil organic matter content, on five levels of a shore of a river‐lake in northern Sweden. Species with seeds having little natural ability to float were most common in the vegetation, whereas species with seeds capable of prolonged floating were most abundant in the seed bank. Species richness in the vegetation and seed bank varied with wave exposure in the same way. Species richness decreased with exposure in both communities at the upper three levels but did not vary with exposure at the lower levels. Floristic similarity between the vegetation and seed bank was 0.25 (Sørensen's index of similarity) for the entire flora. The variation in floristic similarity between communities did not differ between levels. Floristic similarity per sample plot increased with wave exposure.