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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #398011

Research Project: Science and Technologies for the Sustainable Management of Western Rangeland Systems

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Hidden biodiversity: Dryland soil seed banks across ecological sites and states

Author
item Romig, Kirsten
item James, Darren
item MAXWELL, CONNIE - New Mexico State University
item Bestelmeyer, Brandon
item BROWN, JOEL - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item SALLEY, SHAWN - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item FAIST, AKASHA - New Mexico State University

Submitted to: Restoration Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2024
Publication Date: 1/9/2025
Citation: Romig, K.B., James, D.K., Maxwell, C., Bestelmeyer, B.T., Brown, J., Salley, S., Faist, A. 2025. Hidden biodiversity: Dryland soil seed banks across ecological sites and states. Restoration Ecology. 227:105307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2024.105307.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2024.105307

Interpretive Summary: There is little overlap of biodiversity between the aboveground growing vegetation and belowground seed bank. Including the seed bank can increase biodiversity up to twofold times. Soil seed bank in this system was dominated by native perennial seed and mostly grasses which is advantageous to rangeland restoration. Shrub seed had limited presence in the seed bank and is not a leading cause of shrub encroachment. There are significant differences in the seed bank for density and richness among the ecological sites, but degree of degradation (ecological state) is not a loss in seed bank density and richness.

Technical Abstract: Grassland degradation can hinder global dryland ecosystems with aboveground vegetation a key indicator of transitions from a healthy reference state to undesirable, or degraded states. The soil seed bank may either mirror, or diverge, from its associated aboveground vegetation. To better understand this relationship, we examined vegetation and seed banks across soil types (ecological sites) and vegetation/soil states (ecological states). To assess the soil seed bank, we sampled replicate soil seed bank collections across 67 individual ecological site and state combinations in the northern Chihuahuan Desert U.S.A. We found low species overlap between aboveground vegetation and the soil seed bank ranging from 0% to 30%. Sand dominated ecological sites contained the highest seed densities, yet densities and richness did not differ markedly across most vegetation states within an ecological site. The soil seed bank was dominated by perennial native grasses (>69%) with a low proportion (3%) of shrub seeds. Results indicate that irrespective of degradation levels, functional groups characteristic of historical native grasslands persist in the seed bank. Understanding soil seed bank biodiversity and how it relates to edaphic gradients and degrees of land degradation provides insight into the restoration potential of degraded arid ecosystems in a changing climate.