The advance and prospect of soil seed bank in the alpine grassland

Soil seed bank indicates the total amount of survived seeds in the litter of upper strata and in the soil. The theory of soil seed bank is regarded as the basic theory of community ecology and restoration ecology, an important component for natural regeneration in degraded ecosystems, and has become a hot issue in plant ecology. The study of soil seed bank is an important supplement to biodiversity research, helps to understand vegetation regeneration and the dynamic process of vegetation evolution, and is indispensable for vegetation reconstruction, recovery and operation practice. As the potential community, grassland soil seed bank is the base of settling, survival, reproduction and spreading of plant populations, the origin of plants in grassland ecosystem. This paper reviewed the methodology, contents and signification of the studies on grassland soil seed bank, especially in alpine region. The problems and future study on soil seed bank were presented and discussed. In the process of the restoration and reclamation of degraded vegetation, the study on the soil seed bank can provide scientific information and important theory for vegetation regeneration in alpine region.