Seed-bank dynamics of native and invasive Impatiens species during a five-year field experiment under various environmental conditions

Despite recent evidence on the important role of seed banks associated with plant invasions, and a large body of literature on invasive annual Impatiens species, little is known about the seed bank characteristics of Impatiens species. To bridge this gap, we conducted a five-year field experiment where we buried seeds of two invasive species (I. glandulifera and I. parviflora) and one native species (I. noli-tangere) across four localities in the Czech Republic, harbouring all three Impatiens species and differing in the environmental conditions. We found that the three Impatiens species differed in the characteristics of their seed banks. Both invasive species had a high seed germination rate of almost 100% in the first year after seed burial, while