Soil Seed Bank of the Forest Restored, Reserva Natural Vale, Espirito Santo State, Brazil

The objective of the present study was to compare the composition and structure of the soil seed banks of a Forest Restoration (FR) and a Reference Ecosystem (RE). To this end, 60 samples of 30x30x5 cm topsoil were collected in the Reserva Natural Vale located in Linhares, Espirito Santo state, Brazil. Individuals of 25 species and 15 botanical families germinated for six months. The study found increased density of Urochloa decumbens (brachiaria) in the FR, an invasive species which inhibits the process of ecological succession, representing a problem in cases of possible disturbances. On the other hand, the presence of facilitative succession species such as Cecropia and Trema in the FR were characterized positively, because these species are responsible for forest regeneration after disturbances and they were not used during the planting of the area, that is, the forest restoration is behaving as an ecosystem that already presents resilience to disturbances such as the creation of gaps.