The Role of Soil Seed Bank in Forest Regeneration

Forest degradation and deforestation disrupts the structure and functions of the ecosystem with negative impacts on biodiversity and natural regeneration of the forests. In Nigeria, forests are lost through burning, shifting cultivation and logging of trees, thus reducing the potential of the forest to naturally regenerate and perform ecosystem functions as expected in a forest reserve. There have been insufficient knowledge about the role soil seed bank plays in forest restoration, and this will play an essential role in the natural regeneration of forest reserves. Seed bank performs tremendous roles in the restoration of degraded forest reserves, which includes donation of propagules, conservation of genetic diversity, the composition of the understorey plant community and recovery of biodiversity. These ecosystem functions are dependent on the dynamics of the soil seed bank as well as favourable environmental conditions.