Abstract: The soil seed bank, as a "storage" of aboveground vegetation species diversity, is the material foundation for plant community renewal and succession and a core driving force for regional vegetation natural restoration. This review, based on recently published high-impact studies, systematically summarizes the dynamic characteristics and driving mechanisms of soil seed banks in community succession, the impact pathways of disturbances on seed banks, and the application potential and limitations of seed banks in ecological restoration.The study found that the seed bank density, species richness, and composition show regular changes across succession stages, with high seed density in early stages, high richness in mid-stages, and low similarity in late stages as cross-system common characteristics; Disturbances affect seed bank functions through direct (e.g., climate change, physical disturbances), indirect (e.g., habitat changes, intensified competition), and cross-scale pathways (e.g., temporal mismatches, spatial diffusion), with multi-path interactions leading to nonlinear responses; Although seed banks provide a source of seed for the restoration of degraded ecosystems, their application is limited by the availability of target species seeds and environmental stress. Future research should focus on strengthening long-term monitoring, analyzing multi-factor interaction mechanisms, and developing precise restoration technologies based on seed bank characteristics to address ecological restoration challenges under global change.

Key words: Ecosystem types, community succession, driving mechanisms