title: [Soil seed bank research of China mining areas: necessity and challenges].
abstract: Soil seed bank consists of all living seeds existed in soil and its surface litter, especially in topsoil, and can reflect the characteristics of regional biodiversity. As the base of vegetation restoration and potential greening material, topsoil and its seed bank are the limited and non-renewable resources in mining areas. The study of soil seed bank has become one of the hotspots in the research field of vegetation restoration and land reclamation in China mining areas. Owing to the special characteristics of mining industry, the soil seed bank study of mining areas should not only concern with the seed species, quantities, and their relations with ground surface vegetation, but also make use of the research results on the soil seed bank of other fragile habitats. Besides, a breakthrough should be sought in the thinking ways and research approach. This paper analyzed the particularity of mining area's soil seek bank research, summarized the research progress in the soil seed bank of mining areas and other fragile habitats, and put forward the challenges we are facing with. It was expected that this paper could help to reinforce the soil seed bank research of China mining areas, and provide scientific guidelines for taking great advantage of the significant roles of soil seed bank in land reclamation and vegetation restoration in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. changqing@cau.edu.cn
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Da-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Ai-Nong
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Xiao-Si
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D008906:Mining; D012639:Seeds / Q000145:classification*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D012987:Soil