Abstract:We used the direct germination method to examine the difference in the soil seed bank between an enclosed and a degraded alpine meadow in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The main results and conclusions were: (1) A total of 10161 seedlings germinated in the two sites, belonging to 46 species and 23 families. The proportion of perennials was higher in the enclosed site than in the degraded site, but the proportion of grasses and monocotyledons was not different between the two sites. (2) The mean seed density in the degraded site ((6105±1530) viable seeds m-2) was significantly higher than in the enclosed site ((3883±798) m-2), but there was no difference in species richness between the two sites. The larger seed bank in the degraded area indicates that restoration of this habitat is not seed limited, and the soil seed bank has the potential to be a source for restoration. (3) Species richness and seed density decreased significantly with depth. (4) We used S rensen′s coefficient to evaluate the relationship between the presence of species in the germinable seed bank and the aboveground vegetation. This relationship was weak, though stronger for the enclosed site (45.3%) than for the degraded site (40.4%). However, the similarity of seed bank between the two sites was high (84.6%), indicating that while grazing pressure has a dramatic effect on vegetation, the impact of these changes is buffered by the soil seed bank. (5) The Shannon-Wiener index in the enclosed site was significantly greater than in the degraded site, both for the seed bank and for the aboveground vegetation. Thus, overgrazing reduces both the species diversity of aboveground vegetation and the diversity of the seed bank. Management by enclosing pastures could maintain the species diversity of both the seed bank and the aboveground vegetation.