Soil seed bank dynamics in Tithonia diversifolia dominated fallowland at Ile- Ife, South-western Nigeria
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Date
2009-10
Authors
Oke, S. O.
Oladipo, O. T.
Ndiribe, C.
Akinyemi, D. S.
Ojo, O. M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences
Abstract
The soil seed bank of Tithonia diversifolia, an invasive species which dominates open waste fallowland
vegetation was studied. Two different roadside sites which vary in extent of open waste land were selected.
The species composition of the established vegetation was assessed in the two different sites. Twenty top soil
samples were collected at 0-15 cm five different distances (15 m, 30 m, 45 m, 60 m, and 75 m) inwards away
from each main road in dry and rainy seasons and the seed bank composition was determined by greenhouse
germination over a 6 month period. The similarity between the composition of the seed bank flora and that of
the established vegetation was low. The least and the highest emerged seedlings density were recorded in the
15 m and 75 m respectively inwards away from the main road in both seasons. The results of the seedlings
emergence are a reflection of the extent of open waste land dominated by the invasive species due to human
disturbance (road construction) on both sites. Overall results suggest that the emergence of the species from the
soil seed bank may be due to the impact of the invasive species – Tithonia diversifolia on other plant species in
the study environment.
Description
Keywords
Fallowland, invasive species, seedling emergence, seed bank.
Citation
Oke, S., Oladipo, O., Ndiribe, C., Akinyemi, D. and Ojo, O., 2009. Soil seed bank dynamics in Tithonia diversifolia dominated fallowland at Ile-Ife, South-western Nigeria. International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, 3(5): 899-911.