Vegetation succession following ride edge management in lowland plantations and woods. 2. The seed bank resource

Abstract

The composition and distribution of the buried soil seed bank was examined across the edges of 11 lowland plantations and woods in southern England from which portions of the tree canopy were removed. Species most frequently germinating in soil samples were those with known or suspected persistent soil seed banks, which included a number of ancient woodland indicators. Both the number of individuals and species were stimulated by the cutting treatments, especially in the areas cleared of trees, where initial germination temporarily depleted the seed bank. Recharge followed rapidly over successive growing seasons, with several species showing consistently strong zonation across the edge gradient. These results suggest that edge management has a positive role in restoring and maintaining populations of seed bank species in plantations and neglected coppice woods, but the frequency of cutting needs to be carefully balanced against the requirements of other, less mobile species of both permanently open and shady habitats.