Recovery of the Soil Seed Bank in Terms of Functional Diversity in a Semi-Arid Grassland
Category: Research Poster
Author(s): Izabella Rhomberg, Madelyn Amick, Melinda Smith
Presenter(s): Izabella Rhomberg
Mentors(s): Madelyn Amick
The severity and duration of drought is predicted to increase, and with this plant communities are predicted to change in terms of their functional traits. The recovery of the plant community post-drought will be impacted by the variety of functional traits available during the recovery period. The soil seed bank, the cache of dormant seeds in the soil, will likely play a role in this recovery. However the seed bank itself may be affected by drought, limiting the traits available during recovery. The goal of our study is to compare the effects of extreme drought on the functional traits of the seedbank and determine its ability to recover within a year. To do this, we collected soil seed bank samples two times after a four year drought experiment conducted in a semi-arid grassland in Northeastern, Colorado: at the beginning of the growing season after the drought (May 2023), and at the end of the growing season (Oct 2023). Samples were collected and grown in the greenhouse for species identification. We assessed each species’ origin, life history, photosynthetic pathway and functional type. We found that the previously droughted seedbank was depleted across functional traits, but that there was recovery across all functional traits except for perennials within a single growing season. The impact of this recovery on the plant community is yet to be seen; however, this recovery does suggest a beneficial role of the seed bank in coming years.