Species, functional groups and community structure in seed banks of the arid Nama Karoo: Grazing impacts and implications for rangeland restoration

The regeneration potential of grazing-affected Nama Karoo vegetation was evaluated by comparing soil seed banks of different microsites across a fence-line contrast in arid Namibia. Seed banks under low and high grazing pressure reflected the condition of the standing vegetation in terms of composition, community structure and species abundance distributions. However, a close concordance between vegetation and seed bank was restricted to the herbaceous and grassy vegetation within the inter-shrub matrix.