Effects of Clearing Treatment on Seed Banks of the Alien Invasive Shrubs Acacia saligna and Acacia cyclops in the Southern and South-Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Populations of buried viable seeds of Acacia cyclops and A. saligna, invasive aliens of fynbos, were estimated to assess the effects on them of different shrub-clearing treatments. Seed populations of both species declined significantly after 1 year with burning, but in general, not thereafter. Seed banks of A. cyclops, but not of A. saligna, were reduced by shrub felling alone after 1 year, apparently because a high proportion of seeds do not have seed-coat induced dormancy, and thus germinate immediately.