Changes in soil seed bank and vegetation at abandoned bait sites in a Central European hilly area

Feeding places for shooting wild boar (ie., bait sites) may cause weed infestation in natural habitats. We examined the vegetation and the soil seed banks of three current and three – 1, 8 and 10 years old – abandoned baits, using vegetation survey along transects and seedling emergence methods. In case of vegetation, the density and the number of weeds were significantly higher at current baits. In addition, the abundance of weeds decreased with the time of abandonment, but the number of weeds remained similar. Concerning the seed bank, the species number and the total seed density highly varied, but due to the frequent disturbances, they were lower at current baits. Only the proportion of weed species was significantly lower at abandoned sites, the abundancy of weed seeds was similar, and did not decrease in time. Even, the youngest bait showed the lowest, while the oldest one the highest proportion of weed seeds among the abandoned sites. Generally, long-term persistent seeds dominated, except for the oldest site, indicating the lower level of disturbance. Vegetation regenerates relatively quickly, but the seed banks remain infected for years, which can be a potential source of secondary invasions.