Succession after Elimination of Buried Seeds from a Recently Plowed Field

MARKS, P. L. AND C. L. MOHLER (Ecol. & Syst., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853). Succession after elimination of buried seeds from a recently plowed field. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 112: 376-382. 1985.-The buried seed pool was eliminated from selected plots in a recently plowed goldenrod field by steam sterilization in order to determine the importance of stored seed in the early stages of old field succession. Recolonization by plants was slow despite the close proximity of abundant seed sources in the surrounding goldenrod field. Midway through the second growing season the mean per cent cover of plants in the sterilized plots was 12% (?6 SD) compared to 121% (?10) in the control plots. The results underscore the importance of both the buried seed pool and the population of perennial plants that may survive tillage and herbicide spraying in determining the dominant plants early in old field successions.