Influence of land use history on seed banks in European temperate forest ecosystems: a review

This study summarises European research on seed banks in temperate forest s ystems and analyses for differences in seed bank composition between geogra phically scattered forests with a different land use history. Special atten tion is given to seed bank characteristics of ancient forest species. Resul ts of Detrended Correspondence Analysis suggest that historical land use is a key factor in determining the seed bank composition. Particularly seed b anks of forests on former heathland sites differ from seed banks of ancient forest due to a high contribution of early successional species. The effec t of former land use decreases after SO yr, due to seed senescence. Total s eed density decreases with recent forest age. Seed bank composition of east ern European forests is different from northern or western European forests , a difference which is mainly caused by species with a higher Ellenberg in dicator value for continentality, temperature and reaction. In general, anc ient forest species are poorly represented. Only a limited number is mentio ned to have a persistent seed bank, and their densities are relatively low, which means that restoration of typical ancient forest vegetation can not rely on the seed bank. However, there is still a considerable lack of knowl edge concerning seed bank and germination characteristics of forest species .