Post-agricultural Succession Research Articles

Carbon stock increase during post-agricultural succession in central France: no change of the superficial soil stock and high variability within forest stages

Forest development following agricultural abandonment concerns extensive areas including the Massif Central region of France where this study was undertaken. This land-use and land-cover change is expected to have effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services, including an increase of carbon sequestration—a major concern in the face of climate change. Nevertheless, uncertainties about carbon stock changes during successions are remaining, especially as to the total stock and the contribution of the different carbon pools. Our work contributes to this field by studying carbon stocks in multiple plots of different successional stages. We measured and estimated carbon stocks in aboveground and belowground vegetation, deadwood, litter and superficial soil, and surveyed plant communities and plot conditions (slope, aspect, soil characteristics). The average total carbon stock increased along the succession from 70.60 at stage 0 to 314.19 tC ha−1 at stage 5. However, the total carbon stocks at the young forest stage (abandoned for 74 years maximum) and the older forest stage (forested for at least 74 years) were not significantly different, and probably reflected strong local heterogeneity in the older forest stage. An increase of the carbon stock was found in all pools, except the soil pool that did not vary significantly between the successional stages. The aboveground carbon stock was found strongly related to the woody species cover, especially the macrophanerophyte cover. This case study supports the view that the succession dynamics of former agricultural plots participates in carbon sequestration, sometimes with great local variations.

Post-agricultural succession affects the accumulation and enzymatic transformation of organic phosphorus in a karst area, southwest China

Post-agricultural succession affects the accumulation and enzymatic transformation of organic phosphorus in a karst area, southwest China

Dynamics of Natural Regeneration: Implications for Landscape Restoration in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

This study aimed to understand post-agricultural natural forest regeneration in the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest and its possible role as a cost-effective, passive approach to forest restoration. The study characterized vegetation structure, floristic composition, and the dynamics of secondary forest chronosequences. Data were collected from 159 plots (10 × 10 m each) across forest remnants in Santa Catarina State, covering forest ages that ranged from 2 to 60 years of regeneration after swidden agriculture. Only areas with no signs of degradation were sampled in order to provide a description of vegetation characteristics that could be used to identify and monitor natural regeneration. A total of 11,455 woody plants were identified and classified into 334 species representing 71 families. As the succession process unfolds, the continuous turnover of species makes forests more diverse and structurally complex. Floristic similarity among forest types is observed during the early stages of succession, but decreases over time. Pioneer species dominate young secondary forests, representing about 40% of the basal area up to 10 years of regeneration. Shade-tolerant species start colonizing the sites at early ages; however, they become more important structural elements only after 30 years of succession. The observed patterns of forest structure and species diversity largely conform to the post-agricultural succession seen in many tropical forests. The high species diversity found in this study highlights the importance of natural regeneration as a strategy to restore ecosystems. Floristic data can be used as a reference for choosing suitable species for active restoration, as well as contributing to the design of integrated restoration strategies. We herein reinforce the potential of natural regeneration as part of large-scale restoration programs, which would be particularly attractive to family farmers by the low cost of supplies and labor.

Soil nutrient variation impacted by ecological restoration in the different lithological karst area, Shibing, China

To carry out differentiated ecological restoration activities and formulate appropriate environmental conservation strategies for karst regions with different underlying bedrocks, it is essential to investigate the impact of ecological restoration and lithological differences on soil nutrients. The Karst world heritage site in Shibing, Guizhou province, China was selected as the study site. Here, we determined pH and nutrient differences in soil profiles of dolomite and limestone areas with ecological restoration activities. The results showed that (1) the main controlling factors of the topsoil were different from those of the core and bottom soils. (2) The topsoil was more sensitive to ecological restoration. Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and available nitrogen contents in the topsoil samples from the post-agricultural succession areas were significantly higher than those in the cultivated areas (P < 0.05), and were at 2.04–3.99, 1.62–4.07, and 1.52–3.18 -fold, respectively. (3) The core and bottom soils were mainly affected by the differentiated dissolution between the dolomite and limestone areas. The available nitrogen in the core and bottom soils were significantly lower in the dolomite area than in the limestone area (P < 0.05), and were 76.5% and 40.8% lower, respectively. Total phosphorus, available phosphorus and pH in the bottom soil were significantly higher in the dolomite area than in the limestone area (P < 0.05), and were 1.12, 1.86, and 2.63-fold, respectively. (4) Shrub recovery played a major role in the rapid accumulation of soil carbon and nitrogen in the dolomite area. Consequently, shrub development is very critical in the early stages of ecological restoration of dolomite areas following agricultural abandonment.

Post-agricultural succession in the fallow swiddens of Southeastern Brazil

Agricultural practices have been occurring for centuries in the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest, which contains one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. The communities that still practice traditional shifting agriculture are constrained by legal, economic and social factors, which makes the practice of itinerant agriculture a complex dynamic process. The long-term effect of repeated, long-fallow shifting cultivation on plant communities in secondary forest fallows of various age and slash-and-burn history was examined in a quilombola village in Southeastern Brazil. We carried out vegetation surveys in 12 sites, ten in areas of shifting cultivation and two in secondary forests formed after natural disturbances. We chose three age groups for sampling, i.e., post-harvest fallow or post-disruption times for natural areas. The fallow period after cultivation ensures the continuous recovery of the composition and structure of vegetation, but even after five decades the alpha and beta diversities had not reached the values observed in mature forests. The number of species and basal area increased over time but the differences between areas in the same age group were as large as between age groups. The two disturbed natural areas had lower richness than the fallow swiddens of the same age. The data suggest that the intensive extraction of non-timber forest products to supply the market, and therefore extraneous to traditional activity, has negatively affected the sustainability of the system. Actions to recover stocks of these forest products together with integrated management and input of resources can maintain the sustainability of the system.

Linkage between plant species diversity and soil-based functions along a post-agricultural succession is influenced by the vegetative forms.

There is a growing body of knowledge that ecosystem functions, in particular, soil-based ecosystem functions, are related to biodiversity. However, how plant species diversity influences soil-based functions along post-agricultural secondary succession is still a largely ignored question in Mediterranean semi-arid conditions. Therefore, we used the plant functional group approach to investigate the relationships between plant species diversity indices and soil-based functions including microbial biomass carbon (MBC), basal respiration (BR), and carbon sequestration (CS) across three different stages of the vegetation succession corresponding to ~ 5 years after agricultural abandonment, ~ 15 years after abandonment, and oak forests which represent the terminal stage. We also tested if these relationships are supported by the niche complementarity and selection effect hypotheses. The results showed that soil-based functions significantly increased with time since abandonment as BR, MBC, and CS increased respectively by 1.7, 1.5, and 2.7 times across the three successional stages. We also found strong correlations between the diversity indices and the soil-based functions BR, MBC, and CS which were positive for richness (R2 values 0.75, 0.74, and 0.75) and Shannon diversity (R2 values 0.61, 0.58, and 0.61) but negative for evenness (R2 values 0.38, 0.38, and 0.36 for, respectively). Similarly, richness and Shannon diversity of the different plant functional groups positively correlated with soil-based functions. However, contrasting results were found for evenness which positively correlated with soil-based functions for perennial grass only. We suggested that increasing the diversity of plant species and facilitating dominant species would be needed to improve the soil-based ecosystem functions after abandonment of degraded soils. This study also revealed that the mechanisms behind the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions were influenced by the vegetative forms.

Monitoring cropland abandonment with Landsat time series

Cropland abandonment is a widespread land-use change, but it is difficult to monitor with remote sensing because it is often spatially dispersed, easily confused with spectrally similar land-use classes such as grasslands and fallow fields, and because post-agricultural succession can take different forms in different biomes. Due to these difficulties, prior assessments of cropland abandonment have largely been limited in resolution, extent, or both. However, cropland abandonment has wide-reaching consequences for the environment, food production, and rural livelihoods, which is why new approaches to monitor long-term cropland abandonment in different biomes accurately are needed. Our goals were to 1) develop a new approach to map the extent and the timing of abandoned cropland using the entire Landsat time series, and 2) test this approach in 14 study regions across the globe that capture a wide range of environmental conditions as well as the three major causes of abandonment, i.e., social, economic, and environmental factors. Our approach was based on annual maps of active cropland and non-cropland areas using Landsat summary metrics for each year from 1987 to 2017. We streamlined per-pixel classifications by generating multi-year training data that can be used for annual classification. Based on the annual classifications, we analyzed land-use trajectories of each pixel in order to distinguish abandoned cropland, stable cropland, non-cropland, and fallow fields. In most study regions, our new approach separated abandoned cropland accurately from stable cropland and other classes. The classification accuracy for abandonment was highest in regions with industrialized agriculture (area-adjusted F1 score for Mato Grosso in Brazil: 0.8; Volgograd in Russia: 0.6), and drylands (e.g., Shaanxi in China, Nebraska in the U.S.: 0.5) where fields were large or spectrally distinct from non-cropland. Abandonment of subsistence agriculture with small field sizes (e.g., Nepal: 0.1) or highly variable climate (e.g., Sardinia in Italy: 0.2) was not accurately mapped. Cropland abandonment occurred in all study regions but was especially prominent in developing countries and formerly socialist states. In summary, we present here an approach for monitoring cropland abandonment with Landsat imagery, which can be applied across diverse biomes and may thereby improve the understanding of the drivers and consequences of this important land-use change process.

Floristic Composition and Diversity in Plots of Early Post-Agricultural Succession in Four Agroecosystems in the District of Cajatambo, Lima

In this paper, the floristic composition is studied in plots of early post-agricultural succession induced in four agroecosystems (Ocopata, Rancas, Tupicocha and Ucupi) in the district of Cajatambo, Lima. The plots are located between 2,992 masl and 4,220 masl in three plant formations (agriculture, scrubland and grassland), and the description of the floristic composition was made before and after inducing the succession between 2015 and 2017. The number of determined plants is 78, all of which belong to 30 botanical families, of which the Asteraceae (16 species), Fabaceae (11 species) and Poaceae (8 species) families stand out. Indeed, the only common species among the four agroecosystems is Medicago polymorpha ; moreover, five species appear in three of the four agroecosystems: Brassica rapa subsp. campestris and Verbena litoralis (Ocopata, Tupicocha and Rancas), Oenothera rosea and Trifolium repens (Ocopata, Rancas and Ucupi) and Bidens andicola (Tupicocha, Rancas and Ucupi).

Dynamics of soil gross nitrogen transformations during post-agricultural succession in a subtropical karst region

Gross nitrogen (N) transformations are crucial in determining soil N status, but how gross N transformations change during post-agricultural succession remains poorly understood. Here, gross N transformations were measured using a 15N isotope dilution technique in a subtropical karst region, southwest China. A stratified random sampling scheme was adopted and the succession sequence included grassland (~4 years), shrubland (~15 years) and secondary forest (~30 years) with cropland as reference. The soil was leptosols (limestone soil). Soil total N concentrations were significantly (P < 0.05 hereafter) elevated in the shrubland and forest relative to the cropland and grassland. No clear pattern was found for NH4+ concentration, but NO3− concentration increased from the grassland to the forest. The gross rates of N mineralization and nitrification (GN) were significantly lower in the grassland than in the cropland, but increased significantly during post-agricultural succession. There were no clear patterns for the rates of dissimilatory NO3− reduction to NH4+ and gross NO3− immobilization. Gross NH4+ immobilization (GAI) in the forest was lowest but there was no significant difference among the cropland, grassland and shrubland. Gross N mineralization rate correlated significantly with protease activity, implying that the depolymerization of N-containing polymers was likely the rate-limiting step of gross N mineralization. Net nitrate production rate and GN:GAI ratio increased significantly from the grassland to the forest, supporting that soil N cycling likely became more open during post-agricultural succession in the karst region of southwest China.

Controls on soil arylsulfatase activity at a regional scale

Soil arylsulfatase (ARS) is an important enzyme that controls the acquisition of organic sulfur and thus the soil sulfur cycling. However, compared to those enzymes that involved in the acquisition of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, ARS activity and its regulations have rarely been investigated. Here, a regional-scale investigation on soil ARS activity was conducted in southwest China to determine the major controls on soil ARS activity. Results showed that soil ARS activity increased from cropland through to forest following post-agriculture succession, and was significantly lower in clasolite than in dolomite or limestone. Among 14 studied soil variables, five variables (i.e. soil pH, exchangeable calcium, organic carbon, clay and silt) showed significant relationships with ARS activity, and these relationships were non-linear. Path analysis further showed that the activity of soil ARS was most controlled by soil pH and soil texture, but soil calcium and organic carbon only had indirect or spurious effects on ARS activity. Differing from most previous studies that used linear analysis, our results highlight that non-linear analysis is a better way for exploring the controlling factors of soil ARS activity, and we suggest that at the regional scale, soil pH and soil texture may be the most sensitive indicators of soil ARS activity.

Soil carbon and nitrogen accumulation following agricultural abandonment in a subtropical karst region

Vegetation restoration following agricultural abandonment is an effective method for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, SOC dynamics during post-agriculture succession in different soil layers, and its regulation by soil nitrogen (N), are not well understood. We investigated SOC and soil N dynamics during post-agriculture succession at soil depths of 0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–50 cm in a subtropical karst area in southwest China. The succession sequence included grassland (∼9 years), shrubland (∼25 years), secondary forest (∼52 years), and primary forest, with cropland as a reference. In the 0–50 cm soil profile, the SOC and soil N stocks will recover to the primary forest level in ∼74 years at a rate of 112.35 g C m−2 yr−1 and in ∼100 years at a rate of 12.07 g N m−2 yr−1, respectively. The accumulation rate of SOC and soil N was higher in the topsoil (0–20 cm) than in the subsoil (20–50 cm). The estimated time for SOC stock to recover to the primary forest level in topsoil and subsoil was similar (72 and 76 years, respectively), whereas that for soil N stock require more time in topsoil than in subsoil (106 and 89 years, respectively). The higher rate of relative N stock change than that of SOC suggests that progressive N limitation does not occur in the long term following agricultural abandonment. Our results highlight the importance of soil depth and soil N in determining SOC change for secondary succession. Furthermore, the results suggest that, compared to that of previous studies, which considered only surface soil in the karst regions of southwest China, the recovery period of C and N in soil profile may be longer than that assumed previously.

Resource limitation of soil microbes in karst ecosystems

Knowledge about resource limitation to soil microbes is crucial for understanding ecosystem functions and processes, and for predicting ecosystem responses to global changes as well. Karst ecosystems are widespread in the world, and play a key role in regulating the global climate, however, the patterns of and mechanisms underlying microbial resource limitation in karst ecosystems remain poorly known. Here we investigated the microbial resource limitation in a karst region, by selecting four main land-use types, i.e. cropland, grassland, shrubland and secondary forest, in areas underlain by two lithology types, i.e. dolomite and limestone, in southwest China. Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry was used as an indicator of microbial resource limitation. Overall, soil microbes in karst ecosystems were more limited by carbon and phosphorus, rather than by nitrogen. Further analyses revealed that the patterns of carbon and phosphorus limitation were different among land-use or lithology types. Microbial carbon limitation was greatest in cropland and forest but lowest in grassland, and was greater under dolomite than under limestone. Microbial phosphorus limitation decreased from secondary forest to cropland under dolomite areas, but showed no difference among ecosystem types under limestone areas, indicating that lithology controls the pattern of microbial phosphorus limitation along the post-agriculture succession. Our study describes a general pattern of microbial resource limitation in karst ecosystems, and we suggest that lithology may provide a new mechanism for explaining the variations of microbial resource limitation along the post-agriculture succession in different regions.

Dynamics of soil nitrogen availability during post-agricultural succession in a karst region, southwest China

Soil nitrogen (N) availability is crucial in governing the dynamics of ecosystem structure and function. However, the variation pattern of soil N availability during post-agricultural succession has been poorly understood for karst regions. Here, soil N availability variables, including concentrations of soil total N (TN), dissolved inorganic N (DIN=ammonium (NH4+)+nitrate (NO3−)), dissolved organic N (DON), rates of net N mineralization and nitrification at different successional stages, i.e. cropland, grassland, shrubland and secondary forest were investigated at a regional scale, in order to get a general pattern of soil N availability dynamics following agricultural abandonment in the karst region of southwest China. Concentrations of soil TN, soil NO3−, DIN, net N mineralization and nitrification rates increased from grassland to forest. Soil NO3− concentration in secondary forest (37.71±5.01mgNkg−1) reached the level in cropland (31.01±2.93mgNkg−1). Soil NO3−:NH4+ ratio in grassland was not significantly different from 1, but increased directly and reached 13.02±1.16 in secondary forest, equivalent to the level in cropland (15.15±1.98). The dynamics of soil DIN:DON ratio followed the same pattern as soil NO3−:NH4+ ratio. Our study suggests that soil N availability increases and soil N cycling becomes progressively open following agricultural abandonment in the karst region, southwest China.

Community-wide consistence in plant N acquisition during post-agricultural succession in a karst area, southwest China

Strategies of plant N acquisition among coexisting species are critical for many aspects of ecosystems with differential uptake of various N forms as one of these strategies, but much debate still exists. In the present study, strategic N uptake of nitrate and ammonium by 30 dominant species were investigated over two post-agricultural succession sequences in a calcareous karst area, southeast China. Each sequence includes grassland, shrubland, secondary forest and primary forest. Proportional contribution of nitrate and ammonium to plant N was estimated using isotopic mixing calculation. N uptake preference for the two N forms was assessed by comparing assimilation and availability of the N forms. The proportional contribution to plant N was much greater for nitrate than ammonium for the investigated species except three species (Monochoria vaginalis, Boehmeria dolichostachya and Miscanthus floridulus) for which the difference was not significant. Correlation analysis revealed that the contribution to plant N by a particular N form was linearly and positively related to its concentrations in soil. The proportional contribution to plant N by nitrate and ammonium increased logarithmically and decreased exponentially, respectively, as soil nitrate to ammonium ratio increased. N form uptake preference varied according to communities, but was consistent for the coexisting species within each community. The results indicate that the coexisting species share a similar strategy in their uptake of nitrate and ammonium during post-agricultural succession in the calcareous karst region, southwest China.

Dynamics of soil organic carbon in density fractions during post-agricultural succession over two lithology types, southwest China

Agricultural abandonment has been proposed as an effective way to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. Nevertheless, SOC sequestration in the long term is largely determined by whether the stable SOC fractions will increase. Here the dynamics of SOC fractions during post-agricultural succession were investigated in a karst region, southwest China using a space-for-time substitution approach. Cropland, grassland, shrubland and secondary forest were selected from areas underlain by dolomite and limestone, respectively. Density fractionation was used to separate bulk SOC into free light fraction (FLFC) and heavy fraction (HFC). FLFC contents were similar over dolomite and limestone, but bulk SOC and HFC contents were greater over limestone than over dolomite. FLFC content in the forest was greater than in the other vegetation types, but bulk SOC and HFC contents increased from the cropland through to the forest for areas underlain by dolomite. The contents of bulk SOC and its fractions were similar among the four vegetation types over limestone. The proportion of FLFC in bulk SOC was higher over dolomite than over limestone, but the case was inverse for the proportion of HFC, indicating SOC over limestone was more stable. However, the proportions of both FLFC and HFC were similar among the four vegetation types, implying that SOC stability was not changed by cropland conversion. Exchangeable calcium explained most of the variance of HFC content. Our study suggests that lithology not only affects SOC content and its stability, but modulates the dynamics of SOC fractions during post-agricultural succession.

Dynamics of soil organic carbon and nitrogen following agricultural abandonment in a karst region

AbstractAgricultural abandonment is regarded as a major driver of soil organic carbon (C) dynamics, but the mechanisms underlying the direction and magnitude of soil C dynamics following agricultural abandonment are poorly understood. Here dynamics of soil C and N contents during postagricultural succession were investigated in areas underlain by dolomite or limestone by using a space‐for‐time substitution approach in a karst region, southwest China. One hundred twenty‐five sites from cropland, grassland, shrubland, and secondary forest were selected to represent different succession stages. Overall, soil C and N contents were greater (P &lt; 0.05) over limestone than over dolomite mainly due to significantly greater contents of soil C and N in the cropland and grassland underlain by limestone. Both soil C and N contents were lowest in the cropland while highest in the forest. Further analysis indicated that the patterns of soil C and N dynamics differed between the two lithology types. Soil C and N contents increased significantly from cropland to forest over dolomite, while varied insignificantly among succession stages over limestone. Exchangeable calcium explained most of soil C and N variance. We proposed that higher dissolution rate of limestone could replenish the lost calcium so that the calcium levels, and in turn soil C and N contents, were stable from the cropland to the forest. Nevertheless, due to relatively low dissolution rate for dolomite, the calcium level was depleted in the cropland. Following agricultural abandonment, calcium level recovered due to decreased loss, which in turn resulted in recovery of soil C and N.

Soil organic carbon accumulation during post-agricultural succession in a karst area, southwest China.

This study was aimed to investigate the direction and magnitude of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and the underlying mechanisms following agricultural abandonment in a subtropical karst area, southwest China. Two post-agriculture succession sequences including grassland (~10 years), shrubland (~29 years), secondary forest (~59 years) and primary forest with cropland as reference were selected. SOC and other soil physicochemical variables in the soil depth of 0–15 cm (representing the average soil depth of the slope in the studied area) were measured. SOC content in the grassland was not significantly elevated relative to the cropland (42.0 ± 7.3 Mg C ha−1). SOC content in the shrubland reached the level of the primary forest. On average, SOC content for the forest was 92.6 ± 4.2 Mg C ha−1, representing an increase of 120.4 ± 10.0% or 50.6 ± 4.2 Mg ha−1 relative to the cropland. Following agricultural abandonment, SOC recovered to the primary forest level in about 40 years with a rate of 1.38 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. Exchangeable Ca and Mg were found to be the strongest predictors of SOC dynamics. Our results suggest that SOC content may recover rapidly following agricultural abandonment in the karst region of southwest China.

Plant-derived carbon and nitrogen addition due to mowing in the early stages of post-agricultural succession

Input and decomposition of plant-derived organic matter are key processes of the C and N cycling in the post-agricultural succession. This study compared three treatments in order to better understand the contribution of plant-derived organic matter to the C and N levels of the ecosystem in abandoned agrosystems. Mowing without plant residue removal can increase the addition of fresh plant residue and prevented the succession to Solidago altissima. In the fifth year of experimentation, the significantly higher floor litter C in the no mowing lead to a higher total C accumulation than that in the mowing treatments. Mowing reduced the floor litter C by 40% and 13%, in the third to fifth year of experimentation, respectively. Additionally, it rapidly changed the vegetation coverage, and decreased the total C in the early stages of post-agricultural succession. Therefore, mowing was less effective in retaining the C pool due to the addition of fresh plant residue and its decomposition, whereas no mowing can increase the addition of plant residue, leading to be relatively high total N. However, the N input might be insufficient to compensate for the mineral soil-N reduction in the early stages of post-agricultural succession.

Rapid recuperation of soil nitrogen following agricultural abandonment in a karst area, southwest China

Soil nitrogen (N) dynamics are crucial for ecosystem development and carbon sequestration. However, N dynamics during post-agriculture succession have not been well understood. Here soil N dynamics during post-agriculture succession were investigated in a subtropical karst area, southwest China. The succession sequence includes grassland (~10 years), shrubland (~29 years), secondary forest (~59 years) and primary forest with cropland as reference. The soil is calcareous lithosols. Soil N stock (0–15 cm) in the cropland (335.2 ± 55.1 g N m−2) was not significantly different from that in the grassland, but was elevated by 120 to 221 % in the later three succession stages. Across the sequence, soil N accumulated with an average rate of 12.4 g N m−2 yr−1. Soil N stock recovered to the primary forest level in about 67 years following agricultural abandonment. NO3 − concentrations increased while NH4 + concentrations decreased with years following agricultural abandonment. High NO3 − concentrations (66.5–120.9 mg N kg−1) may imply N saturation in the shrubland, secondary forest and primary forest. Rates of net N mineralization and nitrification increased with succession. δ15N of soil, leaves and litter was significantly elevated in the later three succession stages relative to the grassland, indicating that the N cycle became more open with succession. N release from bedrock weathering was likely a potential N source in addition to atmospheric N deposition and biological N fixation. Our study suggests that N would not be the limiting nutrient for secondary succession and ecological restoration in the karst region of southwest China.

Seed banks of temperate deciduous forests during secondary succession

Question: (i) How does former land use and land use intensity affect seed bank development during post-agricultural succession? (ii) How does time since the last clear-cut change seed bank composition during post-clear-cut succession? Methods: One data set was compiled per succession type using the following selection criteria: (i) the data set included a successional series, (ii) plots were located in mesotrophic forest plant communities and (iii) vegetation data were available. The post-agricultural succession data set comprised 76 recent forest plots (eight studies); the post-clear-cut succession data set comprised 218 ancient forest plots (three studies). Each data set was analysed separately using either linear mixed models or generalized linear models, controlling for both environmental heterogeneity and variation between study locations. Results: In the post-agricultural succession data set, land use and time significantly affected nearly all the studied seed bank characteristics. Seed banks on former arable land recovered poorly even after 150 year of restored forest cover, whereas moderate land use intensities (grasslands, heathlands) yielded more rapid seed bank recovery. Time was a significant determinant of all but two soil seed bank characteristics during post-clear-cut succession. Seed banks in managed ancient forest differed strongly in their characteristics compared to primary forest seed banks. Conclusions: Forest seed banks bear the marks of former land use and/or forest management and continue to do so for at least 150 years. Nevertheless, time since the last major disturbance, being either former land use or clear-cutting, remains a significant determinant of the seed bank.