Aims

Seeds are usually classified as short- or long-term persistent. It is still hardly understood how environmental conditions influence seed persistence. The study aimed to monitor the long-term effects of different moisture and substrate on seed persistence.

Methods

Seeds of three Rumex species buried in autumn 2009 in combinations of moisture and substrate were exhumed in spring 2015 and 2021 to test their persistence in the soil after 5.5 and 11.5 years, respectively. Long-term persistence data were compared with data from previous short-term experiment for the same species and environmental conditions reported in Abedi et al. (Plant Soil 374:485-495, 2014).

Results

No seeds of R. acetosa were found viable after 1.5 years. Seeds of R. acetosella retained viability after 11.5 years mostly in dry-loam (~ 60%) and moist-sand (~ 25%) test conditions and moisture levels were identified as the main driver. R. maritimus retained ≥ 80% viability in moist and wet test conditions and > 40% in the dry test conditions.

Conclusions

For one (R. acetosella) of the three investigated species, the classification of soil seed bank type depended on environmental conditions, emphasizing the need to introduce a more detailed classification scheme for soil seed persistence and to include the information about extrinsic parameters in databases. However, in the other two species with transient (R. acetosa) and long-term persistent (R. maritimus) seed banks, there are rather intrinsic parameters that affect seed viability. Hence, both site-specific environmental factors as well as seed germination traits need full consideration in the classification of future soil seed bank studies.

中文翻译：

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土壤水分含量和基质类型决定了土壤种子库中种子的长期寿命

目标

种子通常分为短期或长期持久性。仍然很难理解环境条件如何影响种子的持久性。该研究旨在监测不同水分和基质对种子持久性的长期影响。

方法

2009 年秋季以水分和基质组合埋藏的三种Rumex物种的种子于 2015 年春季和 2021 年春季被挖掘出来，分别测试它们在 5.5 年和 11.5 年后在土壤中的持久性。将长期持久性数据与 Abedi 等人报告的相同物种和环境条件的先前短期实验数据进行了比较。(植物土壤 374:485-495, 2014)。

结果

1.5 年后没有发现R.  acetosa的种子是可行的。R.  acetosella的种子在 11.5 年后主要在干壤土 (~ 60%) 和湿沙 (~ 25%) 测试条件下保持活力，水分水平被确定为主要驱动因素。R.  maritimus在潮湿和潮湿的测试条件下保持 ≥ 80% 的存活率，在干燥的测试条件下保持 > 40% 的存活率。

结论

对于三个调查物种中的一个（R. acetosella），土壤种子库类型的分类取决于环境条件，强调需要引入更详细的土壤种子持久性分类方案并将有关外部参数的信息包含在数据库中。然而，在其他两个具有瞬时（R. acetosa）和长期持久性（R. maritimus）种子库的物种中，存在影响种子活力的相当内在参数。因此，在未来土壤种子库研究的分类中，需要充分考虑特定地点的环境因素和种子发芽性状。