Soil seed bank and seed rain in the seasonally dry tropical forest

We used this data to examine to what extent these two primary seed sources –seed rain and seed bank– are contributing to the community assemblage, and how the dispersal phenology and dispersal syndrome can explain those contributions. We developed this study in a small-protected area of SDTF in Southwestern Ecuador. This area represents one of the last SDTF remnants below 100 m a.s.l. along the South America pacific coast. We considered this area might be useful as a reference site of “pristine forest” to guide restoration actions. These data were used to manuscript Jara-Guerrero et al. Dispersal syndrome influences the match between seed rain and soil seed bank of woody species in a Neotropical dry forest. Journal of Vegetation Science. Sampling of the seed rain Seed traps were used to sample the seed rain. Traps were made of a mesh fabric with holes < 0.5 mm to allow water runoff while preventing seed loss. The fabric was placed on a square metal frame 80 cm long (0.64 m2) located 80 cm above the ground (Stevenson & Vargas 2008). We placed 265 traps in a regular grid in an area of 220 x 220 m of forest (4.8 ha), in the central part of the 9 ha plot. Sampling of the soil seed bank Soil seed bank was sampled once between November and December 2011, at the end of the dry season, when most seeds had been dispersed and before germination started in the rainy season. This sampling date corresponds with the moment in which the soil seed samples reach their maximum diversity and density, i.e., it includes both the transient and the persistent soil seed bank (Caballero et al., 2005; Espinosa et al., 2013). As in the case of the seed rain, 265 soil samples were collected in 0.25 x 0.25 x 0.03 m squares located adjacent to the seed traps, adding up to a total sampled area of 16.56 m2. Seed bank composition was assessed using the germination method, which allows estimating viable seeds in the soil (Bigwood & Inouye, 1988; Holzapfel et al., 1993; Caballero et al., 2008).本数据集旨在探究两种核心种子源——种子雨（seed rain）与土壤种子库（seed bank）——对植物群落组装的贡献程度，以及传播物候与传播综合征（dispersal syndrome）如何阐释此类贡献模式。 本研究在厄瓜多尔西南部一处小型受保护的季节性干旱热带林（Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest, SDTF）区域开展。该区域为南美洲太平洋沿岸海拔低于100米（above sea level, a.s.l.）的残存季节性干旱热带林遗迹之一，我们认为该区域可作为“原始林”参考样地，为植被修复行动提供指导。 本数据集支撑了Jara-Guerrero等人的研究论文《传播综合征影响新热带干旱森林木本植物种子雨与土壤种子库的匹配关系》，刊载于《Journal of Vegetation Science》。 ### 种子雨采样 本研究采用种子陷阱开展种子雨采样。陷阱由孔径小于0.5毫米的网布制成，可在允许雨水渗出的同时防止种子流失。该网布固定于边长80厘米（面积0.64平方米）的方形金属框架上，安装高度距地面80厘米（参考Stevenson & Vargas, 2008）。 我们在9公顷样地的核心区域内，以规则网格布局在220×220米（总面积4.8公顷）的森林区域内布设了265个种子陷阱。 ### 土壤种子库采样 土壤种子库采样于2011年11月至12月（旱季末期）完成，此时多数种子已完成散播，且雨季萌发尚未启动。该采样时点对应土壤种子样品多样性与密度达到峰值的时期，可同时涵盖暂时性种子库与持久性种子库（Caballero et al., 2005; Espinosa et al., 2013）。与种子雨采样方案一致，我们在每个种子陷阱旁采集0.25×0.25×0.03米的土样，共获取265份样品，总采样面积达16.56平方米。 本研究采用萌发法评估土壤种子库的组成，该方法可用于估算土壤中具有生活力的种子数量（Bigwood & Inouye, 1988; Holzapfel et al., 1993; Caballero et al., 2008）。