Spatiotemporal dynamics of soil seed bank of Phytolacca americana and its response to control measures in coastal protective forests in Lingshan Bay National Forest

Soil seed banks are potential plant communities. Their temporal and spatial distribution patterns play an important role in future plant community dynamics and structure. Characteristics of the seed bank for Phytolacca americana affect the construction and function of future ecosystems in the invaded area. The ecological balance in the coastal shelterforest ecosystems in the Lingshan Bay National Forest Park has been severely affected by Phytolacca americana. Between2009 and 2014,we studied seed density and distribution pattern of Phyolacca americana in Pinus thunbergii forest,Robinia pseudoacacia forest,mixed Pinus thunbergii and R. pseudoacacia forest,and Amorpha fruticosa forest. We established five transects at 15 m intervals from the forest edge to the interior,set up 40 samples in each transect,and collected soil seed banks from the litter layer,0-2 cm soil layer,and 2-5 cm soil layer. We conducted a control trial in the R. pseudoacacia forest,which was extensively invaded by Phytolacca americana in 200