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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Lauderdale, Florida » Invasive Plant Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #226514
Title: Differential soil bank longevity of an invasive woody vine (Paederia foetida L.) across three habitats in Florida

Author
item LIU, HONG - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item Pemberton, Robert

Submitted to: The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2008
Publication Date: 8/29/2008
Citation: Liu, H., Pemberton, R.W. 2008. Differential soil bank longevity of an invasive woody vine (Paederia foetida L.) across three habitats in Florida. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 135(4), 2008, pp. 491-496. . The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society.

Interpretive Summary: Weed seed in soil can contribute to increases in the weed population and replace weeds that have been killed by control efforts. Knowing the seed longevity of weed seed is therefore important in their management and especially when eradication of specific weed from infested sites is attempted. We studied the seed longevity of Paederia foetida, a vine native to Asia, which is a problem in natural areas and human dominated environments in Florida, the American South and in Hawaii. In this study, we determined the longevity of soil seed bank of this weed across the three main natural habitats it infests in Florida (the interior of a mix mesic forest, a forest edge, and an open grassland). We placed multiple bags with known number of fruits (diaspores) in four stations in each habitat and retrieved the bags once a year up to three years. Our data demonstrated that P. foetida forms a persistent seed bank with seeds which remain viable for more than one year in the soil seed bank. Seed in banks in forest interior declined more slowly than those in the forest margin and grassland habitats, with 38% being viable at the end of the first year compared to 2% in the other habitats. The percentage of seed that were viable dropped to 4.7%, 0.4%, and 0% after two years in forest, forest edge and grassland habitats. At the end of three years the percentage of viable seed dropped to 0.3%, 0.1% and 0% in forest, forest edge and grassland. This indicates that when attempting complete of P. foetida, infested forest interior and forest edge sites should be monitored for longer periods than do grassland habitats.

Technical Abstract: Knowledge on seed bank longevity is especially important in understanding population dynamics of invasive species and critical in determining the intensity and length of control efforts. In this study we determined the longevity of soil seed bank of Paederia foetida across three main natural habitats that P. foetida occur in Florida (the interior of a mix mesic forest, a forest edge, and an open grassland). A native of eastern Asia, P. foetida is invasive in natural and human created habitats in the southern United States and Hawaii. We placed multiple bags with known number of fruits (diaspores) in four stations in each habitat and retrieved the bags once a year up to three years. Our data demonstrated that P. foetida forms a persistent seed bank with seeds which remain viable for more than one year in the soil seed bank. The decline of soil seed bank was significantly slower in the forest interior than in forest margin and grassland. 38% of the seeds in the forest interior remained viable for one year, but only 2% remained viable in the forest edge and open grassland habitats. The percentages of viable seeds dropped to 4.7%, 0.4%, and 0% after two years in the soil seed banks in the forest interior, the forest edge, and the open habitat, respectively. 0.3%, 0.1% and 0% of seeds were found viable after three years in the forest interior, forest edge, and the open grass habitats, respectively. This indicates that site monitoring of P. foetida efforts should be longer in interior forest and forest margin that in grassland habitats.