SOIL SEEDBANK OF A RECOVERING MEADOW COMMUNITY OF POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY SPECIES
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Date
2024-05-23
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Authors
Butts, Carson
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Abstract
Soil seedbanks, a natural storage of dormant underground seeds, serve as a repository for future flora progeny and can play a crucial role in the restoration of meadows that support pollinator communities. Pollinators, such as bees, are critical for the fertilization of more than 80% of all plant species, including >60% of global crop species. The goals of this study were to determine if the seedbank of a former meadow community of pollinator-friendly species was retained in the soil after several decades of continuous mowing to maintain a grassy lawn. We compared the seedbank between the edge and center of our three sampling sites to determine the influence of seed dispersal from nearby undisturbed native meadows. Our testing sites were at the West Research Campus (WRC), an East Carolina University property in northwest Greenville, NC. We collected soil samples on the edge of the grassy habitat and the center, about 10-20m from the edge. We transported the collected soils to a greenhouse on ECU’s campus where we processed and potted the samples and used the seedling emergence method to quantify and characterize the seedbank community. This method consists of keeping the soils under optimal conditions to promote the germination of as many species as possible to determine what seeds are present (Ter Heerdt et al. 1996). A total of 675 seedlings of 34 species emerged. Of the 34 species, 21 were forbs while the remaining species were grasses and grass-like species that are wind-pollinated. Approximately 42% of the total seedlings were weedy forb species, which are relatively small plants with small flowers that would not contribute many resources to pollinators. While we found no variation when comparing the center and the edge of our sites, we did find that the sites varied from each other. We concluded that, after several decades of mowing, the seedbank alone does not retain the potential for the restoration of a pollinator-friendly meadow. We suggest that the seeding of native plants is necessary for the pollinator meadow community to be restored at the WRC.