Comparisons of species composition between soil seed banks and above- ground plant communities in the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River

The relationship between the seed bank and aboveground communities has attracted much interest among plant community ecologists. The objective of this study was to address the relationships between soil seed banks and aboveground plant communities by comparing the species composition in the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River. Typical shrub-grass communities in the dry-hot valley were selected and five plots were established in upper, middle, and lower sections of the Yuanjiang River watershed. A total of 100 sam- pling quadrats were collected, and plant communities were surveyed. In addition, soil samples were collected in three layers (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, and 10-15 cm) in each community sample. The seed banks from the soil samples were germinated in the lab and species were identified. The results showed that (1) 76 plant species belonging to 25 families and 64 genera were found in the aboveground plant communities. These species mainly belonged to Fabaceae, Poaceae, Asteraece and Euphorbiaceae. (2) 33 plant species belonging to 14 families and 32 genera were found in the soil seed banks. These species mainly belonged to xeromorphy •研究报告•