Abstract: Aims The aim of this study is to explore the characteristics of soil seed banks in typical shrub communities in Luoshan, Ningxia, and their relationship with aboveground vegetation. The study also evaluates the ecological restoration potential of soil seed banks and clarifies their role in vegetation restoration. Methods In this study, six typical shrub community sample plots were set up in Luoshan Nature Reserve of Ningxia Province, and the method of field investigation and sampling and germination experiment was adopted. Important finding A study found that a total of 82 plant species belonging to 31 families and 64 genera were counted in the aboveground vegetation of 6 typical shrub groups. The life form of the species is mainly composed of perennial herbaceous plants, followed by shrubs, and the proportion of annual plants is relatively low; The species richness of the tiger hazelnut community is the highest and the distribution is relatively uniform, while the species richness of the thorn spiral flower community is the lowest and the distribution is uneven. There are a total of 43 plant species in the soil seed bank of 6 typical shrub communities, belonging to 17 families and 35 genera. The life forms of these plants are mainly perennial herbs. The density range of soil seed banks for 6 plant communities is 1033.33 ± 57.74 (grains/m2) -7000.00 ± 200 (grains/m2). The soil seed density is highest in the community of mutual leaved drunken fish grass, and lowest in the community of spiny spiral flowers; Most of the seeds in each plant community are concentrated in the 0-10cm soil layer. As the soil layer deepens, the density and number of species in the soil seed bank of each plant community show a decreasing trend; Overall, the species diversity index of the tiger hazelnut and mutual leaved drunken fish grass communities is the highest, while the thorn spiral flower community is the lowest. The vegetation on the ground of six typical shrub groups is higher in terms of plant species and quantity than in the soil seed bank, and the uneven distribution of plant species in the soil seed bank is more pronounced than in the above ground vegetation. The similarity between aboveground vegetation and soil seed banks in various plant communities is relatively low, with a similarity index range of 0.286-0.444. The evaluation of the ecological restoration potential of soil seed banks shows that the ecological restoration potential of the tiger hazelnut community is strong, while the ecological restoration potential of the other five typical shrub communities is moderate. Overall, although soil seed banks provide a certain source of seeds in vegetation restoration, relying solely on natural seed banks is not sufficient to fully meet the ecological restoration needs. In the actual production process, corresponding restoration measures need to be adopted based on the characteristics of different plant communities, and moderate human regulation should be carried out to promote community succession in the direction of progress or increasing biomass.

Key words: soil seed banks, above-ground vegetation, Typical shrub community；Ecological restoration potential