The Fate of Seeds after Dispersal in Chalk Grassland: The Role of the Bryophyte Layer

Abstract

The aim of this study was to quantify the factors determining the fate of seeds after dispersal in a chalk grassland: post-dispersal predation, transport over the soil surface, incorporation into the soil, and finally germination. Post-dispersal predation of seeds was estimated at about 30-70% of the total number of released seeds. For one species predation was reduced when the seeds were covered by a bryophyte layer. Lateral transport of seeds along soil surface was for most seeds limited to a few cm. Locally, large numbers of seeds may accumulate in patches of bryophytes. Seeds were incorporated into the soil to a depth of a few cm during winter. In this period 10-20% of the seeds were incorporated; small seeds faster than large seeds. Only a very small part of the buried seeds will reach the upper soil layers again.