Beneath our feet: utilizing the soil seed bank for restoration

Ranchers and land managers in the United States spend billions of dollars annually to control invasive plants, such as cheatgrass – an invasive annual grass that pushes out native plant species and increases wildfire risk on western rangelands. Efforts to restore native perennial species through seeding projects are also costly, often with low and unpredictable germination rates. A growing body of evidence suggests that livestock grazing may reduce invasive annual grass abundance through biomass and litter removal of annual grass while perennial species are dormant. However, treatment of invasive species in isolation will be unsuccessful if there is no longer a sufficient seed source for native species to return without further assistance. Could the soil seed bank be used as a nature-based solution in dryland restoration?