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Title: MAPPING SITE-SPECIFIC WEED MANAGEMENT

Author
item WILES, LORI

Submitted to: International Weed Control Congress Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/1999
Publication Date: 6/11/2000
Citation: Wiles, L. 2000. Mapping site-specific weed management. International Weed Control Congress Proceedings.

Interpretive Summary: None required for abstract

Technical Abstract: Site-specific weed management is varying weed management within a field in response to the varying composition of the weed population. This strategy may reduce the risks of herbicide use and enhance weed management without reducing crop yield by limiting herbicide use to where control is economically justified and in other areas, matching management more closely yto the population. A timely, cost-effective and realistic map of the weed population is needed to prescribe site-specific weed management,but sampling weed populations is costly and may require observing many sample units since the range of spatial dependence of a weed population may be short (<60m). Making a weed map may be practical if sample data is combined with other sources of information about the spatial variability of the weed population. Possible sources include aerial photographs, sample data from previous years, a grower's knowledge of the weed population and spatially variable management activities and maps of field characteristics that may be correlated with weed populations. Innovative techniques will be needed to combine this information to make a weed map as some information may be qualitative and sources may represent different measures of the weed population. While an aerial photograph may represent weed biomass, a grower's map of weed pressure may describe variation in biomass and factors that influence the competitiveness of weeds. Fortunately, these weed maps only have to be accurate enough to prevent mistakes in prescribing site-specific management. Methods of making weed maps should be evaluated by both the accuracy in describing the composition of the weed population and the resulting management decisions.