Effects of Nitrogen Additions on Soil Seed Banks of a Freshwater Marsh in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

Over the past five decades, the natural wetlands in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China, have been extensively reclaimed for agriculture with a total loss of nearly 80% of the surface area and the undrained marshes have received a large amount of exogenous nitrogen （N） input from the adjacent agricultural land because of fertilization. In the present study, the effects of nitrogen additions on seed germination and seedling biomass of Calamagrostis angustifolia in freshwater marsh were tested in a greenhouse study. Seed bank soil was exposed to different N additions （0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 g/m^2） under non-flooded water regime. Results revealed that, low level of N additions （less than 10 g/m^2） did not significantly affect the species richness and seedling density, while the seedling biomass at 5 g/m^2 of N addition was higher than other nutrient conditions. But species richness, seedling emergence and biomass decreased significantly at high level of N additions （20-40 g/m^2）. The responses were species-specific. Hi