Life Sciences Commons^™

Seedbank Characteristics Of A Nebraska Sandhills Prairie, Claudio J. Perez, Steven S. Waller, Lowell E. Moser, James L. Stubbendieck, Allan A. Steuter

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Evaluating seedbank ecology is critical for understanding plant community development and successional patterns and for identifying factors regulating population dynamics. The relationships among seedbank composition, seedbank depth, seed dormancy, and vegetative expression were evaluated for a range site on a Valentine fine sand soil (mixed, mesic Typic Ustipsamments) in the Sandhills Prairie. Twenty soil samples were collected at each of 2 depths (0 to 5, 15 to 20 cm) in early June 1990 and 1991 from 12 macroplots (32 X 32 m) representing 3 range condition classes. A seed extraction and germination trial was conducted to determine the diversity, size, …