The seed banks of a southern Appalachian fen and an adjacent degraded wetland

Abstract

Bogs and fens are rare communities in the southern Appalachians of the USA. Many have been degraded, and little ecological information beyond cursory floral inventories is available to help guide conservation and restoration efforts. The seedling emergence technique was used to examine the soil seed banks of open and closed canopy regions of a southern mountain fen in North Carolina. We also examined the seed bank of an adjoining portion of the floodplain, which had been drained and cleared for a golf fairway and is now slated for restoration. A total of 32 taxa emerged, with graminoids (particularlyJuncus spp.) dominating all three seed banks. Seedlings were assigned to one of five plant types: woody, rush, sedge, grass, or forb. Significantly more woody seedlings emerged in soils from the closed canopy fen than in soils from the other two areas. Most rush seedlings emerged in open canopy fen soils, more sedge and forb seedlings emerged in floodplain soils, and more grass seedlings emerged in floodplain soils than in closed canopy fen soils. A discriminant function analysis separated the open canopy fen from the closed canopy fen and floodplain by seedlings of woody plants and rushes. The floodplain was separated from the open and closed regions of the fen by sedge and grass seedlings. These patterns in seed bank composition bore little similarity to the standing vegetation in the three areas. Restoration activities planned for the floodplain are intended to restore its hydrology and microtopography, which will strongly influence recruitment from the seed bank and surrounding seed sources.