Seedbank, seed-bank, or seed bank
- Definition
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- A store of viable seed buried and dormant in the soil or underwater sediments.
- The place where seeds of rare plants or obsolete varieties are sotred in carefully controlled conditions to preserve their genetic material for research and possible future use.
I use the meaning #1 in my lectures.
- Seedbank in the former topsoil on Mount Usu
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Fig. 1. Spatial distribution of total number of seeds in a 50 × 50 × 10 cm quadrat of which density was the highest in the four quadrats surveyed. The sizes of circles indicate that number of seeds (flotation method) or seedlings (germination method) in each 10 x 10 cm subquadrat. The maximum circle indicates 52 seeds. Numeral within each box represents number of species. (Tsuyuzaki & Goto 2001)
[Left] Seeds of dominant species (Rumex obtusifolius, and others) in the former topsoil 20 years after the 1977-78 eruptions on Mount Usu (Goto M). The seeds were extracted by a centrifuged floatation method (Tsuyuzaki 1994). [Right] How to dig! (April 29 1988) - References
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- seed dormancy
- seedbank estimation methods
- Tsuyuzaki, S. 1994. Rapid seed extraction from soils by a flotation method. Weed Research 34: 433-436
- Tsuyuzaki, S. & Goto, M. 2001. Persistence of seedbank under thick volcanic deposits twenty years after eruptions of Mount Usu, Hokkaido Island, Japan. American Journal of Botany 88: 1813-1817