Articles | Volume 1, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-131-2015
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-131-2015
Review article
 | Highlight paper
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26 Jan 2015
Review article | Highlight paper |  | 26 Jan 2015

The fate of seeds in the soil: a review of the influence of overland flow on seed removal and its consequences for the vegetation of arid and semiarid patchy ecosystems

E. Bochet

Cited articles

Aerts, R., Maes, W., November, E., Behailu, M., Poesen, J., Deckers, J., Hermy, M., and Muys, B.: Surface runoff and seed trapping efficiency of shrubs in a regenerating semiarid woodland in northern Ethiopia, Catena, 65, 61–70, 2006.
Aguiar, M. R. and Sala, O. E.: Seed distribution constrains the dynamics of the Patagonian steppe, Ecology, 78, 93–100, 1997.
Aguiar, M. R. and Sala, O. E.: Patch structure, dynamics and implications for the functioning of arid ecosystems, Trends Ecol. Evol., 14, 273–277, 1999.
Baskin, C. C. and Baskin, J. M. (Eds.): Seeds. Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Academic Press, London, UK, 1998.
Bautista, S., Mayor, A., Bourakhouadar, J., and Bellot, J.: Plant spatial pattern predicts hillslope runoff and erosion in a semiarid mediterranean landscape, Ecosystems, 10, 987–998, 2007.
Short summary
Since seeds are the principle means by which plants move across the landscape, the final fate of seeds plays a fundamental role in the origin, maintenance, functioning and dynamics of plant communities. In arid and semiarid patchy ecosystems, where seeds are scattered into a heterogeneous environment and intense rainfalls occur, the transport of seeds by runoff to new sites represents an opportunity for seeds to reach more favourable sites for seed germination and seedling survival.
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