title: [Effects of rodents and litter coverage on the seed fate of wild Prunus divaricata in wild fruit forest of Tianshan Mountain, Northwest China].
abstract: The dynamic variation characteristics of seed bank and the main factors influencing the fate of Prunus divaricata seeds under the pressure of rodent predation and litter coverage were investigated with artificial soil seed banks from September, 2010 to April, 2013. It was found that there was about 48.3% of seeds germinated under the rodent predation disturbance conditions, 50% of the seeds was predated in situ or removed, and only about 4% decayed. The artificial seed bank formed a short-term persistent soil seed bank without any rodent predation disturbance, and the seeds could germinate even though they had been stored in the seed bank for three years. Soil burial provided a lower predation pressure and promoted the recruitment of wild P. divaricata seedlings, removal and predation in situ by animals was an important factor affecting the fate of seeds. At the same time, seeds removed and foraged in situ in the control and litter coverage samples were significantly less than that in the bare soil samples. Ground coverage reduced the removal and predation of seeds by rodents, but the effect was not enough to result in more seedlings. Rodent predation and removal were the main factors that could affect the seed fate and dynamics of seed bank.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong-Heng
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yun-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D065928:Forests; D018525:Germination; D018515:Plant Leaves; D027861:Prunus; D012377:Rodentia; D036226:Seedlings; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development*; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil