Original data comes from a project which takes or took place as part of the DFG priority program "Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research". The data is stored together with descriptive metadata, in combination called a dataset, in the project repository (https://www.bexis.uni-jena.de). Species information was extracted from that original dataset. The second paragraph is part of the metadata of the original dataset. In this project we investigate seed bank and bryophyte propagule content in top soil in grasslands.