THE VIABLE SEED CONTENTS OF ANT‐HILL AND PASTURE SOIL

Abstract

The viable seed contents of ant‐hill and pasture soils were estimated in samples from acidic grassland on Rhossili Down, Gower peninsula, South Wales. The pasture soils contained 9150 seeds per m2 and the same mass of ant‐hill soil produced 6121 seedlings per m2, including 4030 of Aira praecox L. Twelve species had at least four times as many seeds in pasture soil than in ant‐hill soil. Most of these species are more abundant in the pasture than on the ant‐hills, perhaps partly through inefficient seed dispersal. Copyright © 1976, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved