Browsing by Author "Valin, Marjo"

Suomenlinna is a sea fortress that consists of eight islands and it is a very popular tourist attraction in Helsinki. The vegetation of Suomenlinna has been influenced by its location in the outer archipelago and by the previous military use. The primary aim of this study was to explore the composition and abundance of plant species in soil seed banks of dry meadows at Kustaanmiekka. The established vegetation of the dry meadows was studied in 2009. Soil seed samples were collected in April 2011 from ten dry meadows located around Kustaanmiekka. The samples were taken from two different soil layers: 0-4,5 cm and 4,5-9 cm. Seedling emergence method was chosen to study the seed banks. It was carried out from May to October 2011 in the Viikki campus greenhouse at the University of Helsinki. A total of 5887 seeds from 83 taxa germinated from the soil seed bank samples. The most common species were Berteroa incana (L.) DC., Festuca rubra L. and Potentilla argentea var. argentea. The seed banks contained a few polemochorous species (Berteroa incana, Epilobium hirsutum L. and Silene latifolia Poir. ssp. alba (Mill.) Greuter & Burdet which were brought in Finland with military troops. Noteworthy species found only in the seed bank were Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl and Matricaria recutita L.. The seed density varied from 5030 to17600 seeds/m2. Compared to the short-lived species, the amount of perennial species and their seeds was greater in the seed banks. The number of species and seeds differed between the dry meadows. A 2 luonnonalue had the highest number of species while Makeavesialtaiden luonnonalue and Kustaanmiekan sisäosan hiekkataso had the highest number of seeds. The total number of species and the average number of seeds didn´t correlate with the content of the main nutrients or humus in the soil, nor with soil pH or soil type. The soil seed banks could be utilized in the maintenance of the dry meadows in Kustaanmiekka by uncovering and breaking the soil. Rare meadow species that reproduce from seeds and that are still present in the vegetation would also benefit from this. More research is needed to determine the best method to utilize the soil seed banks when seeking to recruit as many species from the seed bank as possible.