HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL-DISTRIBUTION OF DESERT SEED BANKS - PATTERNS,CAUSES, AND IMPLICATIONS

This study examined small-scale seed distribution using published data collected using the same techniques and the same group of observers i n four locations in North American deserts (Curlew Valley, Utah in the Great Basin Desert; Rock Valley, Nevada in the Mojave Desert; Silverb ell, Arizona in the Sonoran Desert; and Jornada, New Mexico in the Chi huahuan Desert). The distribution patterns were examined horizontally (under shrub canopy to open areas) and vertically (measured at the soi l surface and at four depth intervals) in relation to seed morphology. At all four sites, seed distribution of individual species was positi vely related to seed abundance. Horizontally, total number of seeds pe r unit area decreased from under the shrub canopy to intershrub areas. Vertically, total number of seeds declined as soil depth increased. M ost species were only present in a small proportion of samples. Small seeds were either abundant and broadly distributed or rare and found i n a few samples, but larger seeds were always low in abundance and res tricted to a small proportion of samples. For annual species, signific antly higher proportions of larger seeds than smaller seeds were found deeper in the soil. However, when much larger-seeded species, i.e. he rbaceous perennials and shrubs, were included in the analyses, most ve ry small or very large seeds were found in the upper-most layers of so ils and intermediate to large-sized seeds deeper in the soils. Such se ed distribution related to seed morphology and soil factors may have s ignificant ecological implications in plant population dynamics and co mmunity structure in desert ecosystems. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limite d.