• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 2022

Background: Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae; hereafter Parthenium) is an invasive alien species of global significance because of its' negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts. This species is spreading rapidly from lowland Tarai to Middle Mountain regions in Nepal. In the present study, we analyzed the impacts of Parthenium on plant community composition including their soil seedbank in subtropical grasslands located in central Nepal. Data was collected in a 10 m long transects passing through areas of high (> 90% cover), medium (40%-60%) and low (< 10%) levels of Parthenium cover using a plot of 1 m². Altogether, we sampled 90 plots in 30 transects. Seedling emergence method was used to estimate soil seedbank density in the soil samples (0-10 cm depth) collected from the plots with high Parthenium cover. Results: There was no significant difference in the plant species richness at different levels of Parthenium invasion whereas there was a significant change in the species composition of above ground flora due to Parthenium invasion. There was also a significant difference in species composition between soil seedbank and aboveground flora in the highly invaded plots. Parthenium was the most dominant in soil seedbank, contributing 65% to the total soil seedbank. Conclusions: Our study suggests that Parthenium has considerable negative impact on the native grassland flora, and the dominance of Parthenium in the soil seedbank means there is a challenge for its management. It also suggests the need of monitoring the soil seedbank dynamics while managing Parthenium weed.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.271-281
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• 2019

Background: The plant communities within reservoir drawdown zones are ecologically important as they provide a range of ecosystem services such as stabilizing the shoreline, improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity, and mitigating climate change. The aim of the study was therefore to identify the major environmental factors affecting these plant communities within the drawdown zone of the Soyangho Reservoir in South Korea, which experiences a monsoonal climate, and thereafter to (1) elucidate the plant species responses and (2) compare the soil seedbank composition along main environmental gradients. Results: Two main environmental gradients affecting the plant community structure were identified within the drawdown zone; these were a vertical and longitudinal gradient. On the vertical dimension, a hydrological gradient of flood/exposure, the annual-dominated plant community near the water edge changed to a perennial-dominated community at the highest elevation. On the longitudinal dimension from the dam to the upstream, plant species composition changed from an upland forest-edge community to a lowland riverine community, and this was correlated with slope degree, soil particle size, and soil moisture content. Simultaneously, the composition of the soil seedbank was separated along the vertical gradient of the drawdown zone, with mainly annuals near the water edge and some perennials at higher elevations. The species composition similarity between the seedbank and extant vegetation was greater in the annual communities at low elevation than in the perennial communities at higher elevation. Conclusions: The structures of plant community and soil seedbank in the drawdown zone of a monsoonal riverine reservoir were changed first along the vertical and secondly along the longitudinal gradients. The soil seedbank could play an important role on the vegetation regeneration after the disturbances of flood/exposure in the drawdown zone. These results indicate that it is important to understand the vertical and longitudinal environmental gradients affecting shoreline plant community structure and the role of soil seedbanks on the rapid vegetation regeneration for conserving and restoring the drawdown zone of a monsoonal reservoir.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.111-117
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• 2015

The equilibrium moisture contents (EMC) in seeds of four Echinochloa (E. crus-galli var. crus-galli, E. crus-galli var, echinata, E. crus-galli var. praticola, E. esculenta) were measured at $20^{\circ}C$ with equilibration over a series of lithium chloride solutions with relative humidities ranging from 0.11 to 0.8 to determine sorption isotherms and safe storage relative humidity. Standard seed sorption isotherm models i.e. modified Henderson, modified Chung-Pfost, modified Halsey, modified Oswin and Guggenheim-Anderson-deBoer (GAB) equations were adopted to evaluate the goodness of fit to sorption isotherms. This study indicated that EMC of seeds was significantly different in four Echinochloa species at various relative humidity. The modified Oswin equations for E. crus-galli var. crou-galli, E. crus-galli var, echinata, E. esculenta and GAB equation for E. crus-galli var. praticola were adequate models for the EMC data. Seeds of four Echinochloa species have monolayer moisture contents when stored at RH < 0.1. These results show that seed moisture isotherm model should be selected according to genetic variation.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2020

Many areas of vegetation in the British uplands have reduced species diversity as a result of sheep overgrazing. It has been suggested that abandonment or re-wilding strategies might be used to reverse this. A likely first step would be the removal or reduction of grazing livestock from upland areas, with a presumption that this would lead to a recovery in species richness. However, we do not know if this would work, or the timescales involved. One of the important areas where more knowledge is needed is information on the size and composition of soil seedbanks as regeneration from zseed is a likely pathway of recovery. Here, we compared seedbanks in both grazed and ungrazed plots in five experiments at Moor House NNR in the northern Pennines; these sheep grazing exclusion experiments were started 52 and 63/64 years ago. Soil samples (n=10) were collected from both grazed and ungrazed plots in each experiment, and seed emergence counted in glasshouse trials. We detected only seeds of common species and very few dicotyledonous species. This suggests that the soil seedbank is unlikely to be a reliable source of the less common species for ecological restoration in these upland communities, suggesting an extinction debt. Therefore, seed addition and the creation of suitable safe-sites for germination may be needed in conjunction with grazing controls to allow the establishment of plants that will increase the species richness of the vegetation. However, this interventionist restoration approach remains to be tested.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2015

Topsoil including numerous soil seedbanks has been known to be a valuable material for ecological restoration. There is a lack of specific study for its utilization in the field of stream restoration. This study conducted a revaluation of the value of topsoil as a material for stream restoration. Furthermore, an ecological technique using topsoil was applied in an improvement project of a stream environment at the Hwanggujicheon Stream in Korea. Stockpiling and spreading topsoil was specifically applied to the revegetation of a low slope revetment and a high flow plain. The result of this application showed that topsoil played an integral role in eco-friendly restoration in terms of ecological, flood control, economic, and constructional aspects. In conclusion, this study's findings suggest that topsoil is a suitable candidate material for stream restoration.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.217-222
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• 2002

Barley varieties collected from 1940 to 1951 allover the Korean peninsula by Dr. Takahashi Ryuhei were reintroduced from the Research Institute for Bioresouces in Okayama University, Japan, and the evaluation of morphological characteristics and RAPD analysis were performed. Totally, 493 varieties of Korean barley landraces were planted in the green house, from which seeds of 491 varieties were harvested and conserved in the seedbank of the Rural Development Administration. Majority of the naked barley varieties showed dense spikes with long awn, late heading, winter habits, and long plant height. However, variants having various phenotypes such as short awn, blue aleurone color, brachytic type and waxyness were also identified. Plant height, spike length, and cold-tolerance in the varieties were also highly variable among them. Homogeneity tests on the variation of growth habits, spike density, anthocyanin pigmentation on the seed coat, and hairiness on leaf sheath between naked and covered barley showed that the variations of naked barley were similar to those of covered barley. It maybe indicate that the most of naked barley landraces were mutated from the covered barley landraces. Korean landraces of naked barley were broadly divided into 4 groups by the dendrogram produced by morphological characteristics; however, the identities of the group were rather indistinct. Many varieties, belonged to the same group, were showed different band patterns in RAPD analysis using 5 different primer sets. These results indicate that the 112 varieties of naked barley landraces were different genotypes.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.1-5
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• 2012

A simple monitoring method was designed to evaluate seed bank in a upper soil (0 to 30 cm depth), which was observed for the pattern of vertical distribution of weed in the soil under tillage or no-tillage condition. The field experiment was established at an organic corn field located in Hwacheon in Kangwon-do from 2010 to 2011. Undistributed linear soil samples were taken using non-destructive soil sampler from 0 to 30 cm depth at the tillage or no-tillage soils. Weed seed distribution in the linear soil samples was estimated by counting the number of weed germinated according to the soil depth. Under tillage condition, the weed seeds were more evenly distributed from 0 to 30 cm depth, with being 75% of weed seeds located in 0 to 15 cm depth compared to the no-tillage condition. Soil samples taken by no-tillage condition had 85% of weed seeds within 15 cm of soil depth, with being 93% of weed seeds from 0 to 20 cm depth. The number of weeds or the number of weed species were three times higher for tillage soil compared to no-tillage soil, and the major dominant weed species were observed for annual plants, such as Echinochloa crus-gall, Mollugo pentaphylla, and Digitaria ciliaris.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.4
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• pp.577-589
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• 2021

Soil seed bank community contributes to the long-term conservation of plant diversity and vegetation dynamics, and their decreasing diversity and density with soil depth provide critical perspectives (deterministic and stochastic) for understanding the community disassembly process. We analyzed changes in species composition and diversity and structuring patterns by soil layer (top and bottom), including surface vegetation, in Gwangneung Forest, a mature forest with a vegetation climate in the temperate central part of the Korean Peninsula. From two layers of soil collected with a vertical difference of 10 cm, 934 specimens of 27 families, 40 genera, 44 species, three varieties, and 47 taxa, germinated. Although species diversity and germination density decreased in most comparative characteristics, including growth type, there was no statistical significance due to large deviations. Within-group variability of species composition was similar in the upper and lower soils, as was the decline pattern in co-occurred species (ζ-diversity) and change in species retention probability. The structuring process of the community composition in the two soil layers was fitted with an exponential correlation rather than a power function, demonstrating the dominance of the stochastic process. The pattern in diversity and species turnover according to soil depth in Gwangneung Forest was discovered to be structured by stochastic random events, such as seed vertical movement rather than interaction with trait characteristics.