The effect of canopy cover of three species on soil seed bank characteristics in the arid regions Case Study: rangelands of Chenarnaz village in Khatam county, Yazd province

The persent study was designed to investigate the effect of canopy cover of three woody species, Amygdalus scoparia, Daphne mezereum, Ebenus stellata on the composition and density of soil seed bank under their canopies. Fifteen individuals were selected from each of the woody species in Chenarnaz rangelands, Yazd provimce, Iran in autumn, 2018. then the soil samples were taken from under the canopies of woody species with a control treatment outside the canopy from a depth of 0-5 cm with an auger, 5 cm in diameter. The density and composition of soil seed banks in samples were measured through germination method in the greenhouse. The results of one-way ANOVA showed significant differences of total seed bank densities under A. scoparia (with average 1133.17 seed per m2), D. mezereum (with average 823.10 seed per m2), E. stellata (with average 793.21 seed per m2). In addition, total soil seed bank density was significantly higher than the outside of canpies (with average 134.48 seed per m2). Hemi-cryptophyte was the most frequent in the soil seed bank. The results of this research showed the positive effect of the canopy of woody species in increasing of density of soil seed bank in which A. scoparia showed a great impact on soil seed bank characteristics.