Soil seed bank of Antaibao opencast coal mine dump

The study with seed germination method showed that in the soil seed bank of Antaibao opencast mine dump, there were 17 plant species belonging to five families, with annuals as the dominant species. The soil seed bank had a great temporal and spatial heterogeneity. Low similarities were observed between soil seed bank and standing vegetation, and between the seed banks at different sites. The species and density of soil seed bank varied with reclamation time, reclamation model, and site condition. To choose an appropriate reclamation model would be helpful to the improvement of soil seed bank’s self-renewal ability and the stability of dump ecosystem, which was of importance for the land reclamation and ecological rehabilitation of the Antaibao opencast coal mine dump.