Background/Question/Methods Seed rain, or the dispersal of seeds into an area, is an understudied phenomenon closely related to the colonization, establishment, and persistence of plant species in a community. However, natural seed rain patterns in tallgrass prairie communities and how these patterns change during the restoration process remain poorly understood. To address these knowledge gaps, we revisited a seminal grassland seed rain study conducted in 1980 at a remnant Missouri tallgrass prairie and quantified seed rain patterns in the same remnant prairie and a chronosequence of nearby restorations. In May of 2019, we deployed 200 artificial turf grass seed traps (0.1 x 0.1 m) in 3, 6, and 15-year-old restored and remnant north-central Missouri tallgrass prairies. We collected and replaced seed traps every 2-weeks from June to December 2019. So far, we have collected over 44,300 seeds representing at least 108 species. Results/Conclusions Aligned with the findings of the 1980 study, we found that tallgrass prairies exhibit clear temporal patterns of seed rain. However, over the same time interval, we captured more seeds and species in the remnant prairie in 2019 than in 1980. Preliminary results indicate significant differences in the number of seeds falling in remnant and restored prairies of various ages. In general, we found that younger restorations had a significantly higher number of seeds falling than the oldest restoration and remnant prairie (p < 0.05). Based on PERMANOVA analysis, species composition of seed rain in all restored prairies remain divergent from the remnant prairie even 15 years after initial seeding (p < 0.001). Because seed rain is a significant source of plant recruitment, species missing from the seed rain will most likely continue to remain absent. Therefore, our preliminary results suggest that without outside intervention, plant communities in tallgrass prairie restorations will continue to differ from remnant reference sites. Overall, our preliminary findings provide additional evidence that prairie restorations have yet to emulate the structure and function seen in remnant systems. Moreover, our work further informs management efforts on utilizing spatiotemporal patterns of seed dispersal when creating high-quality restorations.
