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Weed Seedbanks of the U.S. Corn Belt: Magnitude, Variation, Emergence, and Application

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Frank Forcella ,
Robert G. Wilson ,
Karen A. Renner ,
Jack Dekker ,
Robert G. Harvey ,
David A. Alm ,
Douglas D. Buhler  and
John Cardina
Frank Forcella
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Morris MN 56267
Robert G. Wilson
Affiliation:
Univ. of Nebraska Panhandle Res. & Ext. Cen., Scottsbluff, NE
Karen A. Renner
Affiliation:
Michigan St. Univ., E. Lansing, MI
Jack Dekker
Affiliation:
Dep. of Agronomy, Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA
Robert G. Harvey
Affiliation:
Dep. of Agronomy, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
David A. Alm
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Urbana, IL
Douglas D. Buhler
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, St. Paul, MN
John Cardina
Affiliation:
Dep. of Agronomy, Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH
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Abstract

Seedbanks and seedling emergence of annual weeds were examined in arable fields at eight locations in the Corn Belt. Seed densities were estimated by direct seed extraction from each of several soil cores in each sampled plot. Average total seedbank densities ranged from 600 to 162 000 viable seed m-2 among locations. Coefficients of variation (CV) typically exceeded 50%. CV for seed densities of individual species usually exceeded 100%, indicating strongly aggregated distributions. CV were lower for species with dense seed populations than those with sparse seed populations. Variance of total seedbank densities was unstable when < 10 cores were examined per plot, but stabilized at all locations when ≥ 15 cores were analyzed, despite a 12-fold difference in plot size and 270-fold difference in seed density among locations. Percentage viable seed that emerged as seedlings in field plots ranged from < 1% for yellow rocket to 30% for giant foxtail. Redroot pigweed and common lambsquarters were the most frequently encountered species. Emergence percentages of these species were related inversely to rainfall or air temperatures in April or May, presumably because anoxia and/or high temperatures induced secondary dormancy in nondormant seed. From 50 to 90% of total seed in the seedbank were dead. This information can be employed by bioeconomic weed management models, which currently use coarse estimates of emergence percentages to customize recommendations for weed control.

Keywords

Common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. #3 CHEALgiant foxtail, Setaria faberi Herrm. # SETFAredroot pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus L. # AMAREyellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris R. Br. # BARVUBuried seedseedling emergencesoil seed reservebioeconomic weed management models
Type
Special Topics
Information
Weed Science , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , December 1992 , pp. 636 - 644
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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