Seeds of change: the role of seedbanks in plant invasion of heavily disturbed dryland riverine habitats in the northern Murray-Darling Basin

Seeds of change: the role of seedbanks in plant invasion of heavily disturbed dryland riverine habitats in the northern Murray-Darling Basin | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Seeds of change: the role of seedbanks in plant invasion of heavily disturbed dryland riverine habitats in the northern Murray-Darling Basin Jaiden Robert Johnston-Bates, Samantha Capon, Fran Sheldon, Jane Catford This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8833616/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Seedbanks are an important reservoir of plant diversity from which plants are able to regenerate, particularly in dynamic, disturbance-driven landscapes characterised by unpredictable environmental variation. Understanding the composition of seedbanks and their role in extant vegetation dynamics provides insights into past and future vegetation change, including the potential for plant invasions under different scenarios. In ecosystems subject to anthropogenic disturbance, however, seedbank dynamics remain poorly understood, especially in relation to their contribution to plant invasion. Here, I investigate the composition of soil and litter seedbanks across riverine habitats (instream, riparian, and floodplain) in the heavily modified agricultural landscapes of the northern Murray–Darling Basin, eastern Australia. Using germination trials, I examined spatial variation in native and non-native seedbank assemblages and explored likely environmental drivers of seedbank composition as well as similarity to the extant vegetation. It was found that germinable seedbanks comprise a wide range of native growth forms as well as a diverse assemblage of opportunistic plant invaders. Non-native seedbank assemblages were associated with land use and hydrological variation, reflecting the roles of disturbance, stochasticity, and opportunism in shaping invasion pathways. Floodplain habitats harboured seeds of the greatest number of non-native species. Numerous native and non-native species detected in seedbanks were absent from corresponding extant vegetation assemblages, suggesting the potential for extant vegetation shifts under changing environmental conditions, including further invasions. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8833616","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":596953304,"identity":"ee5d2405-f003-4790-afa3-ca440faab53a","order_by":0,"name":"Jaiden Robert Johnston-Bates","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Griffith University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jaiden","middleName":"Robert","lastName":"Johnston-Bates","suffix":""},{"id":596953306,"identity":"bdeb7cd6-01d2-4a88-b4be-29a4d4060932","order_by":1,"name":"Samantha Capon","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Griffith University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Samantha","middleName":"","lastName":"Capon","suffix":""},{"id":596953308,"identity":"ba951c14-db3b-43e5-a39a-abb0629baa4e","order_by":2,"name":"Fran Sheldon","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Griffith University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fran","middleName":"","lastName":"Sheldon","suffix":""},{"id":596953309,"identity":"cdd1f879-62c1-449d-902b-80070bdda916","order_by":3,"name":"Jane Catford","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Australian National University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jane","middleName":"","lastName":"Catford","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-09 18:40:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8833616/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8833616/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104399505,"identity":"9cf6befa-dcaa-46e8-a1d6-564c6c4a6b4f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:06:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1328030,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SeedsofchangeMS.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8833616/v1_covered_76c7a500-514e-44fd-b317-0df4a3307c03.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Seeds of change: the role of seedbanks in plant invasion of heavily disturbed dryland riverine habitats in the northern Murray-Darling Basin","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8833616/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8833616/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSeedbanks are an important reservoir of plant diversity from which plants are able to regenerate, particularly in dynamic, disturbance-driven landscapes characterised by unpredictable environmental variation. 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