The study looked at grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China, to understand how plant species in the soil seed bank relate to the vegetation above ground. They found that areas with the most differences in plant species between dry and wet years also had the highest seed density in the soil. The transition zone between desert steppe and typical steppe had the most variation in plant species and the highest seed density. This suggests that the types of plants in the soil seed bank are closely related to the plants that grow above ground, which could help explain why grasslands respond differently to changes in precipitation.