SREL Reprint #1975
Seed Banks of Carolina Bays: Potential Contributions from Surrounding Landscape Vegetation
KAREN A. POIANI
Center for the Environment, 624 Bradfield Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
14853
PHILIP M. DIXON
University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South
Carolina 29802
ABSTRACT-We used the seedling emergence method to evaluate the influence
of the dominant vegetation (herbaceous, shrubby, forested) and the surrounding
landscape on seed bank composition in seven Carolina bays. Landscape influence
was evaluated indirectly by determining whether seed banks in wetlands close to
clearcuts had more upland weedy species than those farther from clearcuts. Seed
bank species composition and richness differed among forested, shrubby and
herbaceous bays. DECORANA ordination identified a gradient of species
composition from herbaceous bays, to shrubby bays, to forested bays. Bays near
clearcuts had significantly more upland weedy species in their seed banks, with
bays 20 m from clearcuts containing 79% more weedy species on average than
bays 100 m from clearcuts. Within a bay, drier vegetation zones had 2.4 times
more weedy species than did deep water zones. These results illustrate the
potential contributions from surrounding landscape units to bay seed banks and
highlight the need for further studies directly assessing the impact of adjacent
clearcuts on bay vegetation dynamics.
SREL Reprint #1975
Poiani, K.A. and P.M. Dixon. 1995. Seed banks of Carolina bays: Potential contributions from surrounding landscape vegetation. The American Midland Naturalist 134:140-154.
