Decadal survival of tropical pioneer seeds in the soil seed bank is accompanied by fungal infection and dormancy release

Pioneer trees require high‐light environments for successful seedling establishment. Consequently, seeds of these species often persist in the soil seed bank (SSB) for periods ranging from several weeks to decades. How they survive despite extensive pressure from seed predators and soil‐borne pathogens remains an intriguing question. This study aims to test the hypotheses that decades‐old seeds collected from the SSB in a lowland tropical forest remain viable by (i) escaping infection by fungi, which are major drivers of seed mortality in tropical soils, and/or (ii) maintaining high levels of seed dormancy and seed coat integrity when compared to inviable seeds. We collected seeds of Trema micrantha and Zanthoxylum ekmanii at Barro Colorado Island, Panama, from sites where adult trees previously occurred in the past 30 years. We used carbon dating to measure seed age and characterized seed coat integrity, seed dormancy and fungal communities. Viable seeds from the SSB ranged in age from 9 to 30 years for T. micrantha , and 5 to 33 years for Z. ekmanii . We found no evidence that decades‐old seeds maintain high levels of seed dormancy or seed coat integrity. Fungi were rarely detected in fresh seeds (no soil contact), but phylogenetically diverse fungi were detected often in seeds from the SSB. Although fungal infections were more commonly detected in inviable seeds than in viable seeds, a lack of differences in fungal diversity and community composition between viable and inviable seeds suggested that viable seeds are not simply excluding fungal species to survive long periods in the SSB. Synthesis. Our findings reveal the importance of a previously understudied aspect of seed survival, where the impact of seed–microbial interactions may be critical to understand long‐term persistence in the SSB. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Los árboles pioneros requieren ambientes con mucha luz para el establecimiento exitoso de las plántulas. Por esta razón, las semillas de estas especies a menudo persisten en el banco de semillas en el suelo por períodos que van desde varias semanas hasta décadas. Cómo sobreviven en el suelo estas semillas a pesar de la gran presión de patógenos y depredadores sigue siendo una pregunta intrigante. Este estudio tiene como objetivo probar que semillas que sobreviven en el suelo por varias décadas en un bosque tropical de tierras bajas siguen siendo viables ya que: (i) escapan a la infección po