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Submitted to: Weed Science Society of America Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/12/1998 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The character of the weed seedbank of individual fields is affected by many factors. The objective of this research was to determine the influence of initial weed population characteristics and levels of weed control on the weed seedbank in the soil. The experiment was conducted under a corn/soybean rotation over a five year period. Initial weed population was either a low density dominated by annual broadleaf species or high density dominated by annual grass species. Levels of weed control were weed-free, mechanical control, broadcast herbicide, banded herbicide, or postemergence herbicide as needed. When starting with high weed density, seed numbers in the soil dropped rapidly under weed-free conditions. Seed numbers remained similar over the course of the experiment with broadcast, banded, or postemergence herbicide. With mechanical weed control, seed numbers were similar to the herbicide systems for the first two years, but were greater after that. When starting at low weed density, control practices did not affect total weed seed numbers over the five years. Environmental conditions that reduced the efficacy of the control treatments had greater impact on seed numbers than the treatments. The behavior of the weed seedbank in this research was affected more by the initial composition of the seedbank and environmental conditions than weed control treatments. |
