Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2021): APRIL

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Soil Seed Banks of Tree Species from Natural Forests, Restoration Sites, and Abandoned Areas in Chiang Mai, Thailand

https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v5i1.11612
Patsavipich Rungrojtrakool
PhD Degree Program in Environmental Science, Environmental Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3060-2371
Pimonrat Tiansawat
Environmental Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1354-1247
Arunothai Jampeetong
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5722-4695
Dia Panitnard Shannon
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University
Sutthathorn Chairuangsri
Environmental Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand

Corresponding Author(s) : Sutthathorn Chairuangsri

s.suwann@gmail.com

Forest and Society, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2021): APRIL

Abstract

Soil seed banks have been used for investigation of natural regeneration of forests. In this study, we compared seed density and species composition of soil seed banks of trees among natural forests, restored forests of different ages, and abandoned agricultural land. The soil seed banks were collected from a natural forest (NF), 12-year-old and 17-year-old restoration sites (RF12y and RF17y), and 17-year-old abandoned site (AA) at Ban Mae Sa Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand. A seedling emergence technique was used to assess seed density and species of emerged seedlings was identified. We found 5-8 tree species at each site. Seed densities in the study areas ranged from 43 to 298 seeds/m2. The seed density of RF12y was significantly higher than that of both NF and AA but not significantly different than RF17y (p < 0.01). Although there was no significant relationship between the restoration ages and the seed densities of the soil seed banks, the species composition of standing vegetation was related to the seed bank species. Sorensen’s similarities between the species composition of the soil seed banks and the existing trees in each area were between 0 and 13.79%, suggesting seed dispersal of both within and across study sites. Eight out of fourteen species in the soil seed banks were dispersed into restoration sites without standing vegetation of those species. Seven of those were animal-dispersed species. The selected native trees, framework species, attracted small seed dispersers into the study areas, especially at the restoration sites. This finding suggests that active forest restoration improved natural regeneration in restoration sites as well as neighboring areas via seed dispersal.

Keywords

forest restoration framework species tropical dry forest northern Thailand restoration ages restored forests soil seed banks standing vegetation
Rungrojtrakool, P., Tiansawat , P. ., Jampeetong, A. ., Shannon , D. P. ., & Chairuangsri , S. (2021). Soil Seed Banks of Tree Species from Natural Forests, Restoration Sites, and Abandoned Areas in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Forest and Society, 5(1), 167-180. https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v5i1.11612
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Blakesley, D., Elliott, S., Kuarak, C., Navakitbumrung, P., Zangkum, S., & Anusarnsunthorn, V. (2002). Propagating framework tree species to restore seasonally dry tropical forest: implications of seasonal seed dispersal and dormancy. Forest Ecology and Management, 164(1–3), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00609-0
  2. Cao, M., Tang, Y., Sheng, C., & Zhang, J. (2000). Viable seeds buried in the tropical forest soils of Xishuangbanna, SW China. Seed Science Research, 10(3), 255-264. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258500000283
  3. Cheke, A. S., Nanakorn, W., & Yankoses, C. (1979). Dormancy and Dispersal of Seeds of Secondary Forest Species Under the Canopy of a Primary Tropical Rain Forest in Northern Thailand. Biotropica, 11(2), 88-95. https://doi.org/10.2307/2387783
  4. Chen, H., Cao, M., & Tang, Y. (2013). Soil seed banks in plantation and tropical seasonal rainforests of Xishuangbanna, south-west China. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 25(3), 375-386. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23617239
  5. dos Santos, D. M., da Silva, K. A., de Albuquerque, U. P., dos Santos, J. M. F. F., Lopes, C. G. R., & Araújo, E. d. L. (2013). Can spatial variation and inter-annual variation in precipitation explain the seed density and species richness of the germinable soil seed bank in a tropical dry forest in north-eastern Brazil? Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 208(7), 445-452. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2013.07.006
  6. Elliott, S., Navakitbumrung, P., Kuarak, C., Zangkum, S., Anusarnsunthorn, V., & Blakesley, D. (2003). Selecting framework tree species for restoring seasonally dry tropical forests in northern Thailand based on field performance. Forest Ecology and Management, 184(1–3), 177-191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(03)00211-1
  7. Forest Restoration Research Unit, Chiang Mai University (FORRU-CMU) (2014) FORRU database.
  8. Garwood, N. (1989). Tropical Soil Seed Banks: A Review. In (pp. 149-209). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-440405-2.50014-2
  9. González-Rivas, B., Tigabu, M., Castro-Marín, G., & Odén, P. (2009). Soil seed bank assembly following secondary succession on abandoned agricultural fields in Nicaragua. Journal of Forestry Research, 20(4), 349-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-009-0059-2
  10. Kostel-Hughes, F., Young, T., & McDonnell, M. (1998). The soil seed bank and its relationship to the aboveground vegetation in deciduous forests in New York City. Urban Ecosystems, 2(1), 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009541213518
  11. Li, N., Feng, G., & Tian, C. (2007). Characteristics and dynamics of the soil seed bank at the north edge of Taklimakan Desert. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 50(1), 122-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-5005-6
  12. Lipoma, M. L., Funes, G., & Díaz, S. (2018). Fire effects on the soil seed bank and post-fire resilience of a semi-arid shrubland in central Argentina. Austral Ecology, 43(1), 46-55. https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/aec.12533
  13. Ludwig, J. A., & Reynolds, J. F. (1988). Statistical Ecology: A Primer on Methods and Computing. Wiley.
  14. Martins, A. M., & Engel, V. L. (2007). Soil seed banks in tropical forest fragments with different disturbance histories in southeastern Brazil. Ecological Engineering, 31(3), 165-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2007.05.008
  15. Maxwell, J. F., & Elliott, S. (2001). Vegetation and Vascular Flora of Doi Sutep–Pui National Park, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Thai Studies in Biodiversity 5. Biodiversity Research & Training Programme, Bangkok. 205 pp.
  16. Miao, R., Song, Y., Sun, Z., Guo, M., Zhou, Z., & Liu, Y. (2016). Soil Seed Bank and Plant Community Development in Passive Restoration of Degraded Sandy Grasslands. Sustainability, 8(6), 581. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060581
  17. Pohlert, T. (2014). The Pairwise Multiple Comparison of Mean Ranks Package (PMCMR). In R package. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=PMCMR
  18. R Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. In (Version 3.3.1) R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/
  19. Royal Project Thailand (Mae Sa Mai Station) (2016) Climate_Maesa
  20. Sorensen, T. (1948). A Method of Establishing Groups of Equal Amplitude in Plant Sociology Based on Similarity of Species Content. Kobenhavn.
  21. Upper Northern Region Irrigation Hydrology Center (2020). Rainfall data, Thailand. https://www.hydro-1.net/main/3-RAIN.php
  22. Vázquez-Yanes, C., & Orozco-Segovia, A. (1996). Physiological ecology of seed dormancy and longevity. In Tropical forest plant ecophysiology (pp. 535-558). Springer, Boston, MA.
  23. Wang, Y., Jiang, D., Toshio, O., & Zhou, Q. (2013). Recent advances in soil seed bank research. Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 6(5), 520-524. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425513050181
Read More
Author biographies is not available.
Download this PDF file
PDF