Potential Ability of the Rapid Re-vegetation from the Soil Seed Bank in the Drawdown Zone of Reservoir

초록

In 2015 Reservoir Soyang recorded the lowest water level caused by the worst drought since 1997. The newly exposed area in the drawdown zone can afford the potential germination site of the soil seed bank. The purpose of this study is to identify the species composition of the soil seed banks and to investigate how the soil seed banks relate to aboveground vegetation in the drawdown zone of Reservoir Soyang, Korea. We collected the soil samples in total 27 plots on the drawdown zone to examine species composition and density in the soil seed bank using the seedling-emergence method from April to July in 2015. Total 24 species were germinated from the soil seed bank, and the average seed density was 1,649 m"2. Of all species recorded in the soil seed banks and the extant vegetation, 11% were found only in the seed bank, 65% only in the vegetation, and 23% in both sides. The soil seed bank was dominated by annual plants, and most established perennials were absent from the seed bank. Therefore, the low species compositional similarity between soil seed bank and extant vegetation could imply that hydrochory and anemochory have much greater potential to establish vegetation in the drawdown zone of Reservoir Soyang. This research was supported by a grant (12-TI-C02) from Advanced Water Management Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.