Sowing native seeds is a common approach to reintroduce native plants to degraded systems. However, this method is often overlooked in wetland restoration despite the immense global loss of diverse native wetland vegetation. Developing guiding principles for seed-based wetland restoration is critical to maximize native plant recovery, particularly in previously invaded wetlands. Doing so requires a comprehensive understanding of how restoration manipulations, and their interactions, influence wetland plant community assembly. With a focus on the invader Phragmites australis, we established a series of mesocosm experiments to assess how native sowing density, invader propagule pressure, abiotic filters (water and nutrients), and native sowing timing (i.e., priority effects) interact to influence plant community cover and biomass in wetland habitats. Increasing the density of native seeds yielded higher native cover and biomass, but P. australis suppression with increasing sowing densities was minimal. Rather, community outcomes were largely driven by invader propagule pressure: P. australis densities of ≤500 seeds/m² maintained high native cover and biomass. Low-water conditions increased the susceptibility of P. australis to dominance by native competitors. Early sowing of native seeds showed a large and significant benefit to native cover and biomass, regardless of native sowing density, suggesting that priority effects can be an effective restoration manipulation to enhance native plant establishment. Given the urgent wetland restoration need combined with the limited studies on seed-based wetland restoration, these findings provide guidance on restoration manipulations that are grounded in ecological theory to improve seed-based wetland restoration outcomes.

中文翻译：

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打破平衡：种子密度、非生物过滤器和优先效应在基于种子的湿地恢复中的作用

播种本地种子是将本地植物重新引入退化系统的常用方法。然而，尽管全球范围内各种原生湿地植被大量丧失，但这种方法在湿地恢复中经常被忽视。制定基于种子的湿地恢复的指导原则对于最大限度地恢复本地植物至关重要，特别是在以前被入侵的湿地中。这样做需要全面了解恢复操作及其相互作用如何影响湿地植物群落组装。以入侵者Phragmites australis 为重点，我们建立了一系列中宇宙实验来评估本地播种密度、入侵者繁殖压力、非生物过滤器（水和养分）和本地播种时间（即优先效应）如何相互作用以影响湿地栖息地的植物群落覆盖和生物量。增加本地种子的密度会产生更高的本地覆盖率和生物量，但随着播种密度的增加，南极南芥的抑制作用很小。相反，群落结果主要由入侵者繁殖压力驱动：≤500 粒种子/m ^2的P. australis密度保持较高的原生覆盖率和生物量。低水条件增加了P. australis的易感性本土竞争对手的主导地位。无论本地播种密度如何，本地种子的早期播种对本地覆盖和生物量显示出巨大而显着的好处，这表明优先效应可以是一种有效的恢复操作，以增强本地植物的建立。鉴于迫切的湿地恢复需求以及对基于种子的湿地恢复的有限研究，这些发现为基于生态理论的恢复操作提供了指导，以改善基于种子的湿地恢复结果。