Restoration Implications from Seed-Bank Dynamics of Reference and Degraded Wet Prairies of Florida’s Gulf Coast

Ashlynn N. Smith^1,2,*, Mack Thetford³, and Debbie Miller⁴

¹School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.²Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University West River Research and Extension, Rapid City, SD 57703. ³Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida West Florida Research and Education Center, Milton, FL 32583. ⁴Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida West Florida Research and Education Center, Milton, FL 32583. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 24, Issue 4 (2025): 417–439

First published early online: 26 December 2025

Abstract
Knowledge of soil seed banks can inform the potential for recovery of vegetation after disturbances or degradation. Gulf coast wet prairies are in need of restoration due to shrub encroachment. We compared seed banks of 4 reference and 6 degraded wet prairies and along a sloping landscape gradient using the seedling-emergence method. We examined variability of seed-bank emergence, species richness among functional groups, emergence from 2 soil depths, species present in seed banks and extant vegetation, and effectiveness of cold stratification. Samples collected below a soil depth of 5 cm produced fewer seedlings. Cold stratification increased richness for forbs and graminoids, and woody emergence was zero without cold stratification. The seed bank contained 20.4% of species found in extant-vegetation surveys across all reference sites. Based on our study, it is unlikely practitioners can rely on the seed bank to revegetate target wet prairie vegetation following shrub removal.

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