Introducing of suitable habitats as soil seed sources for vegetation recovery(Case study: Vaz Watershed)

This study aimed to investigate the effect of habitat kind on soil seed density and richness، and finally introducing the best habitat as a soil seed source for vegetation recovery. Therefore، three habitats were selected in central Alborz viz. forest، rangeland and the ecotone between forest and rangeland. In each habitats، 7 transects perpendicular to the slope were established. Soil samples were collected along transects from 70 2*2 m plots in each habitat and for two depths: 0-5 and 5-10cm. Soil samples were then spread in green house and seedlings were identified and removed for a 6-months period. GLM، ANOVA and post hoc tests were used to study the effect of habitat kind، depth and the interactions on soil seed density and richness. The results showed that the kind of habitats، depth and interaction between habitat and depth were significantly affected on both richness and density of soil seed bank. In upper layer، the highest value of seed richness and density were related to ecotone، rangeland and forest، respectively. In deeper layer، the highest seed richness was related to rangeland and ecotone and the highest seed density was related to rangeland. In total، it can be concluded that ecotone was a suitable habitat to act as a source of soil seeds. The manager could rely on ecotone as a genetic memory and a source for introducing seeds for recovering the eroded areas particularly in rangeland.