View thesis.
I determined the relationship between the compositions of the seed pool and aboveground vegetation and the effect of shrubs (microhabitat effects) and perennial bunchgrass cover (community phase effects) on the seed pool community composition, seed density, and seed pool species richness. To evaluate the relationship between the two communities and the effects of microhabitat and community phase, the aboveground vegetation and the soil seed pools of different community phases and microhabitats were sampled prior to restoration. Similarity and distance metrics and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) were used to asses the relationship between the two communities. NMDS and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the effects of aboveground community phase and microhabitat on the seed pool community. Results suggest that the relationship between the aboveground vegetation and seed pool community compositions varied according to the organizational level used for vegetation. In addition, microhabitat and community phase did influence seed density but not species richness.