Fig. 2. Primary attributes (boxes) and transitions (arrows) in a generalized seed-bank model.

In this example, the sizes of the active and dormant pools are made up of an equal number of individuals (N = 70) belonging to different classes (colored squares), which may represent genotypes within a population or species within a community. In the active pool, individuals can be gained through reproduction and lost through mortality. In the dormant pool, there is no reproduction, and mortality of inactive individuals is typically assumed to be much lower than for active individuals, which is reasonable for many but not all taxa that invest in long-lived seed banks. In addition, pool sizes are influenced by stochastic or deterministic transitions between metabolic states (i.e., initiation and resuscitation), which determine the size and rate at which pools undergo turnover. In terms of $\alpha$-diversity, the richness of classes in the dormant pool ($S_d$ = 9) is greater than the richness in the active pool ($S_a$ = 4). In terms of $\beta$-diversity, the active and inactive pools are 82 % dissimilar based on the abundance-weighted Bray-Curtis metric: ${\sum }_{k=1}^S\left[x_{ak}-x_{dk}\right]/{\sum }_{k=1}^S\left(x_{ak}+x_{dk}\right)$, where $x_{ak}$ and $x_{dk}$ correspond to the abundance of class $k$ in the active ($a$) and dormant ($d$) pools, respectively, and $S$ is the number of classes contained in the pools. Seed-bank attributes can also be influenced by migration, especially when dormancy facilitates the dispersal and colonization of individuals in a regional landscape.