Transposition of the seed bank for ecological restoration of seasonal forest in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of the seed bank transposition for ecological restoration of the Seasonal Forest in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. We evaluated the seed bank of the center (BSI) and the seed bank of the edge (BSII) of a forest fragment. The soil was deposited in 1 m2 plots in a completely randomized design with three treatments (BSI, BSII and control) and six replications, in two soil types, Argisol Bruno-Greying (PBAC) and Ultisol (PV). We evaluated floristic composition, seedling emergence, density and mortality in each treatment and soil for twelve months. We carried out ANOVA with repeated measures from twelve months to compare treatments in relation to emergency, density, mortality and species richness. There was a significant difference between treatments for richness and density. The number of species has been increasing over the twelve months. The density was influenced by the winter period and degree of soil hydromorphy. Transposition of the seed bank enabled the inclusion of the tree lifeform and demonstrate to be efficient presenting increase diversity in the deposition sites.