Tropical Grasslands (1996) Volume 30, 201–205

An improved method for measuring the germinable soil seed banks of tropical pastures

D.M. ORR1, C.J. PATON1 and G.W. BLIGHT2

1Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brian Pastures Research Station, Gayndah; and
2Animal Research Institute, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Abstract

The accuracy of 2 methods for determining germinable soil seed banks was compared in soil cores containing known seed loads of 5 tropical grasses placed on sand columns in pots. A sprayed method watered soil cores for 30 minutes per day, and a capillary method watered cores by capillary action from shallow trays.
The sprayed method produced significantly (P < 0.05) higher seedling emergence than the capillary method and gave more reliable estimates of seed load. In a second pot experiment, using soil cores from a grazing experiment, the sprayed method again resulted in significantly (P < 0.05) higher seedling emergence than the capillary method.
We consider that the sprayed method more closely simulates the natural process in a field situation, where seeds are subjected to daily fluctuations in moisture potential rather than being continuously wet, as occurs with the capillary method.

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