Abstract:Relationships between the standing vegetation and soil seed bank in relation to species richness and species composition were studied in communities dominated by four vegetation types (Scirpus triangulatus Comm. (ST), Polygonum praetermissum Comm. (PP), Brasenia schreberi Comm. (BS) and Oryza rufipogon Comm. (OR)) in Huli marsh, a subtropical upland shallow water marsh in Hunan Province, South China. Persistent seed banks were estimated from five replicate soil samples (each 6.8 cm diameter×5cm depth) withi...