Abstract
1. The seedling emergence method for assessing the size of the seed bank is improved by washing soil samples on a fine sieve and spreading the thus concentrated samples in a 3-5 mm thick layer on sterilized potting compost.
2. The method largely increases the number of seedlings that emerge as compared to unconcentrated samples. Hand-sorting afterwards shows that the germination rates vary between 81 and 100% of the viable seeds present.
3. Ninety-five per cent of the seedlings will emerge within 6 weeks using this method.
4. The method greatly reduces the greenhouse space needed and enables examination of large sample volumes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 144-151 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Functional Ecology |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb-1996 |
Keywords
- sample size
- seed distribution
- seed separation method
- seedling emergence method
- seedling emergence rates
- DYNAMICS
- MARSH