Survival of a lowland heathland seed bank after a 33-year burial

Abstract

AbstractSoil samples were collected from the original land surface beneath an experimental earthwork, constructed in 1963 at Morden Bog, Dorset, England, and excavated in 1996. Large numbers of seeds of Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea and E. tetralix germinated from the samples, but other species present in the original flora, including Ulex minor and several grasses, were absent. The results confirm the previously-documented longevity of Calluna and E. tetralix, and for the first time demonstrate similar longevity in E. cinerea.