QUESTIONS: In terms of biodiversity conservation, forest plantations are often considered problematic because they usually have negative effects on natural ecosystems. Soil seed banks could play an important role in restoring vegetation that was originally present, by recruiting species that have disappeared above‐ground. We addressed this topic in plantations located in the Patagonian steppe by asking the following questions: Are richness, abundance and composition of steppe above‐ground vegetation and soil seed bank affected by plantations? Is species composition of the above‐ground vegetation and soil seed bank similar in plantations and in the steppe? LOCATION: NW of Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. METHODS: We selected three plantations located in the steppe, and delimited three sectors: steppe, plantation edge and plantation interior. We compared richness and abundance by species origin and growth form among sectors for the above‐ground vegetation and soil seed bank compartments, using generalized linear mixed models. We compared species composition for each compartment and between them using permutational multivariate analysis of variance and non‐metric multidimensional scaling. RESULTS: In above‐ground vegetation, we found a decrease in richness and abundance, and changes in composition from the steppe to the plantation interior. Richness and abundance of the soil seed bank did not show differences among steppe and the plantation sectors, although composition was different among them. Above‐ground vegetation and soil seed bank species composition were always different; native perennial herbs and shrubs were predominant in the above‐ground vegetation while exotic annual herbs dominated the soil seed bank. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that plant recruitment from the soil seed bank would not be sufficient for restoring depleted species pools in the above‐ground vegetation of plantations. Therefore, actions promoting native species reestablishment and control of exotics should be considered to reach the aim of restoring biodiversity in former plantations.

中文翻译：

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在社区中坚持的策略：巴塔哥尼亚松树种植园的土壤种子库和地上植被

问题：在生物多样性保护方面，人工林通常被认为是有问题的，因为它们通常对自然生态系统产生负面影响。土壤种子库可以通过招募在地上消失的物种，在恢复原来存在的植被方面发挥重要作用。我们通过提出以下问题在位于巴塔哥尼亚草原的人工林中讨论了这个主题：人工林对草原地上植被和土壤种子库的丰富度、丰度和组成有影响吗？人工林和草原的地上植被和土壤种子库的物种组成是否相似？位置：阿根廷巴塔哥尼亚丘布特省西北部。方法：我们选择了位于草原上的三个人工林，并划定了三个部分：草原、人工林边缘和人工林内部。我们使用广义线性混合模型比较了地上植被和土壤种子库隔间的物种起源和生长形式的丰富度和丰度。我们使用置换多变量方差分析和非度量多维标度比较了每个隔室以及它们之间的物种组成。结果：在地上植被中，我们发现从草原到人工林内部的丰富度和丰度都减少了，成分也发生了变化。土壤种子库的丰富度和丰度在草原和种植园之间没有表现出差异，尽管它们之间的组成不同。地上植被和土壤种子库物种组成总是不同的；本地多年生草本和灌木在地上植被中占主导地位，而外来一年生草本在土壤种子库中占主导地位。结论：我们的研究结果表明，来自土壤种子库的植物补充不足以恢复人工林地上植被中枯竭的物种库。因此，应考虑采取促进本地物种重建和控制外来物种的行动，以达到恢复原种植园生物多样性的目标。