bioRxiv Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.08.28.747765

Genetic legacy in soil seedbanks after grassland conversion to plantation forests: evidence from Potentilla freyniana

Setsuko, S.·Uchiyama, K.·Koyanagi, T.·Uchida, K.·Hyodo, F.·Fu, F.·Koyama, A.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Semi-natural grasslands are important ecosystems supporting biodiversity in Japan, but their area has declined rapidly due to land-use change and abandonment of traditional management practices such as mowing and burning. Although the conservation of genetic diversity is essential for the long-term persistence of grassland plants, little is known about the genetic diversity retained in soil seedbanks following conversion of grasslands to plantation forests. In this study, we compared the genetic diversity and population structure of above-ground and soil seedbank populations of the grassland perennial forb Potentilla freyniana across three sites in each of three land-use types: burned grasslands, deciduous plantation forests, and evergreen plantation forests (plantation ages approximately 21-62 years) on the Kaida Plateau, central Japan. Soil seedbank populations were obtained from soil samples through germination experiments, and genetic analyses were conducted using newly developed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Genetic diversity was assessed using expected heterozygosity, allelic richness, and private allelic richness, population structure was evaluated using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), STRUCTURE analyses, and pairwise FST. Soil seedbank populations maintained levels of genetic diversity comparable to those of above-ground populations, and no significant differences were detected between the two population types. Furthermore, soil seedbank populations in evergreen plantation forests, where above-ground individuals of P. freyniana were absent, retained genetic diversity comparable to that observed in burned grasslands. AMOVA detected no significant genetic differentiation between above-ground and soil seedbank populations. These results suggest that high levels of genetic diversity can persist in soil seedbank populations for decades after forest establishment and highlight the potential importance of soil seedbanks as genetic resources for grassland restoration.

Explore related subjects

ecologyPreprint

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Setsuko, S., Uchiyama, K., Koyanagi, T., Uchida, K., Hyodo, F., Fu, F., Koyama, A.. 2026-09-01. Genetic legacy in soil seedbanks after grassland conversion to plantation forests: evidence from Potentilla freyniana. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.08.28.747765

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

Discover connections

Preprint resourcePreprint subjectecology subject

Connections use source metadata and explicit phrase matches, not verified experimental comparisons.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

Environmental sensing capacity predicts bacterial ecological strategies and environmental preferences

The ability to sense environmental variation is a prerequisite for ecological success. Sensor domains enable bacteria to detect nutrients, neighboring organisms, and physicochemical conditions, but whether variation in these sensing systems reflects ecological specialization remains unresolved. Here, we analyzed sensor domains across 51,343 bacterial genomes and 255 soil metagenomes spanning a climatic gradient to determine whether sensory repertoires encode bacterial ecological strategies and environmental preferences. Sensory repertoires exhibited strong phylogenetic conservatism and revealed signatures of genome streamlining, indicating that environmental sensing reflects trade-offs associated with maintaining sensory complexity. Taxa occupying environmentally heterogeneous habitats, particularly free-living aerobic generalists, encoded the largest sensory repertoires, consistent with selection for expanded environmental information processing. To link sensory function with ecological adaptation, we mapped experimentally-characterized ligand-binding motifs (LBMs) across genomes and metagenomes. Distinct LBM profiles discriminated host-associated and free-living taxa, aerobic and anaerobic lineages, and generalists and non-generalists, revealing a tight coupling between sensory capacity and ecological strategy. Across soil communities, motifs associated with osmoprotection and oxygen sensing were consistently enriched under increasing aridity, linking sensory function to environmental filtering in natural ecosystems. These findings identify environmental sensing as an important organizational axis of bacterial trait-based ecology that integrates evolutionary history, ecological lifestyle, and adaptation to local conditions. Environmental sensing should be considered for predicting microbial niches and responses to environmental change.

ecology↗
bioRxiv2026

An ecological model of masting reproduction matches empirical dynamics

Masting, characterized by highly variable, synchronized, and intermittent seed or fruit production, represents a common reproductive strategy among perennial plants and has profound ecological consequences. Resource provisioning and pollen limitation have long been viewed as central physiological mechanisms underlying this strategy, recent empirical evidence also highlights the role of weather cues in initiating and synchronizing reproductive effort. Drawing on mechanisms that drive periodicity in disease dynamics, this study proposes an alternative proximate mechanism for masting. We develop and analyze a stage-structured population growth model in which developmental delays create population-level cycles, and demographic stochasticity adds individual-level variation; together, yielding masting-like patterns. We compare the behaviour of this novel model with that of the widely used resource budget model and empirically observed patterns of masting in perennial plants. To quantify and compare model outputs and empirical observations, we employ three continuous metrics of masting that capture volatility, synchrony, and periodicity. Our study provides an alternative proximate mechanism for masting. Comparison of this novel mechanism and the established resource-budget model to empirical time-series reveals that both represent realistic yet distinct forms of masting reproduction. Together, these models provide a foundation for further exploration of the conditions under which this reproductive strategy can evolve. Beyond masting, our results highlight the general importance of life-history timing and demographic stochasticity in shaping population ecology.

ecology↗
bioRxiv2026

Convergent stochastic assembly governs reef biofilm microbiomes across ecologically distinct benthic substrates

Understanding the processes that shape microbial biodiversity and community structure is a key objective of the field of microbial ecology. The processes driving assembly of benthic biofilm bacteria on functionally important reef substrates, such as crustose coralline algae (CCA) and calcium carbonate, are not well understood, despite their critical contributions to the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function on reefs. To characterize the patterns of community assembly and biogeography on these substrates, climax biofilm bacterial communities from 11 reef sites were collected, and full 16S small subunit rRNA genes were sequenced. Though CCA- and carbonate-associated communities demonstrated different diversity, composition, and correlations with environmental conditions, communities on both substrates were assembled according to similar processes. Stochastic processes dominated assembly on both substrates, primarily drift with moderate influence from dispersal limitation and selection. Sub-communities of habitat generalists and specialists, as well as rare and abundant taxa, experienced disparate patterns of assembly that remained consistent between substrates, highlighting the importance of individual taxa traits in shaping community assembly. These results provide insight into the factors shaping benthic biofilm bacterial assembly and biogeography in a tropical reef ecosystem and contribute to understanding of reef resilience in the face of environmental change.

ecology↗