Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:02:01.541Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Weed Seed Persistence and Microbial Abundance in Long-Term Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Silke D. Ullrich ,
Jeffrey S. Buyer ,
Michel A. Cavigelli ,
Rita Seidel  and
John R. Teasdale
Silke D. Ullrich
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705
Jeffrey S. Buyer
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705
Michel A. Cavigelli
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705
Rita Seidel
Affiliation:
Rodale Institute, Kutztown, PA 19530
John R. Teasdale*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: john.teasdale@ars.usda.gov
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Weed seed persistence in soil can be influenced by many factors, including crop management. This research was conducted to determine whether organic management systems with higher organic amendments and soil microbial biomass could reduce weed seed persistence compared with conventional management systems. Seeds of smooth pigweed and common lambsquarters were buried in mesh bags in organic and conventional systems of two long-term experiments, the Farming Systems Project at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Maryland, and the Farming Systems Trial at the Rodale Institute, Pennsylvania. Seed viability was determined after retrieval at half-year intervals for 2 yr. Total soil microbial biomass, as measured by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) content, was higher in organic systems than in conventional systems at both locations. Over all systems, locations, and experiments, viable seed half-life was relatively consistent with a mean of 1.3 and 1.1 yr and a standard deviation of 0.5 and 0.3 for smooth pigweed and common lambsquarters, respectively. Differences between systems were small and relatively inconsistent. Half-life of smooth pigweed seeds was shorter in the organic than in the conventional system in two of four location-experiments. Half-life of common lambsquarters was shorter in the organic than in the conventional system in one of four location-experiments, but longer in the organic than in the conventional system in two of four location-experiments. There were few correlations between PLFA biomarkers and seed half-lives in three of four location-experiments; however, there were negative correlations up to −0.64 for common lambsquarters and −0.55 for smooth pigweed in the second Rodale experiment. The lack of consistent system effects on seed persistence and the lack of consistent associations between soil microbial biomass and weed seed persistence suggest that soil microorganisms do not have a dominating role in seed mortality. More precise research targeted to identifying specific microbial functions causing seed mortality will be needed to provide a clearer picture of the role of soil microbes in weed seed persistence.

Keywords

Common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. CHEALsmooth pigweed, Amaranthus hybridus L. AMACHWeed seed viabilityweed seed mortalitymicrobial biomassmicrobial communityPLFA
Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Information
Weed Science , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 202 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Benvenuti, S., Macchia, M., and Miele, S. 2001. Quantitative analysis of emergence of seedlings from buried seeds with increasing soil depth. Weed Sci. 49:528–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernal-Lugo, I. and Leopold, A. C. 1998. The dynamics of seed mortality. J. Exp. Bot. 49:1455–1461.Google Scholar
Botto, J. F., Scopel, A. L., and Sánchez, R. A. 2000. Water constraints on the photoinduction of weed seed germination during tillage. Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 27:463–471.Google Scholar
Bouwmeester, H. J. and Karssen, C. M. 1993. Seasonal periodicity in germination of seeds of Chenopodium album L. Ann. Bot. 72:463–473.Google Scholar
Buhler, D. D. and Hartzler, R. G. 2001. Emergence and persistence of seed of velvetleaf, common waterhemp, woolly cupgrass, and giant foxtail. Weed Sci. 49:230–235.Google Scholar
Burnside, O. C., Wilson, R. G., Weisberg, S., and Hubbard, K. G. 1996. Seed longevity of 41 weed species buried 17 years in eastern and western Nebraska. Weed Sci. 44:74–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buyer, J. S., Roberts, D. P., and Russek-Cohen, E. 1999. Microbial community structure and function in the spermosphere as affected by soil and seed type. Can. J. MicroBiol. 45:138–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buyer, J. S., Teasdale, J. R., Roberts, D. P., Zasada, I. A., and Maul, J. E. 2010. Factors affecting soil microbial community structure in tomato cropping systems. Soil Biol. BioChem. 42:831–841.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavigelli, M. A., Teasdale, J. R., and Conklin, A. E. 2008. Long-term agronomic performance of organic and conventional field crops in the mid-Atlantic region. Agron. J. 100:785–794.Google Scholar
Conn, J. S., Beattie, K. L., and Blanchard, A. 2006. Seed viability and dormancy of 17 weed species after 19.7 years of burial in Alaska. Weed Sci. 54:464–470.Google Scholar
Cookson, W. R., Murphy, D. V., and Roper, M. M. 2008. Characterizing the relationships between soil organic matter components and microbial function and composition along a tillage disturbance gradient. Soil Biol. BioChem. 40:763–777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cousens, R. and Mortimer, M. 1995. Dynamics of Weed Populations. New York Cambridge University Press. 332 p.Google Scholar
Davis, A. S. 2007. Nitrogen fertilizer and crop residue effects on seed mortality and germination of eight annual weed species. Weed Sci. 55:123–128.Google Scholar
Davis, A. S., Anderson, K. I., Hallett, S. G., and Renner, K. A. 2006. Weed seed mortality in soils with contrasting agricultural management histories. Weed Sci. 54:291–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, A. S., Cardina, J., Forcella, F., Johnson, G. A., Kegode, G., Lindquist, J. L., Luschei, E. C., Renner, K. A., Sprague, C. L., and Williams, M. M. 2005. Environmental factors affecting seed persistence of annual weeds across the U.S. Corn Belt. Weed Sci. 53:860–868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, A. S., Schutte, B. J., Iannuzzi, J., and Renner, K. A. 2008. Chemical and physical defense of weed seeds in relation to soil seedbank persistence. Weed Sci. 56:676–684.Google Scholar
Fennimore, S. A. and Jackson, L. E. 2003. Organic amendment and tillage effects on vegetable field weed emergence and seedbanks. Weed Technol. 17:42–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frostegård, A. and Bååth, E. 1996. The use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis to estimate bacterial and fungal biomass in soil. Biol. Fertil. Soils. 22:59–65.Google Scholar
Gallagher, R. S. and Cardina, J. 1998a. Phytochrome-mediated Amaranthus germination I. effect of seed burial and germination temperature. Weed Sci. 46:48–52.Google Scholar
Gallagher, R. S. and Cardina, J. 1998b. Phytochrome-mediated Amaranthus germination II. development of very low fluence sensitivity. Weed Sci. 46:53–58.Google Scholar
Gallandt, E. R., Fuerst, E. P., and Kennedy, A. C. 2004. Effect of tillage, fungicide seed treatment, and soil fumigation on seed bank dynamics of wild oat. Weed Sci. 52:597–604.Google Scholar
Gallandt, E. R., Liebman, M., Corson, S., Porter, G. A., and Ullrich, S. D. 1998. Effects of pest and soil management systems on weed dynamics in potato. Weed Sci. 46:238–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallandt, E. R., Liebman, M., and Huggins, D. R. 1999. Improving soil quality: implications for weed management. J. Crop Prod. 2:95–121.Google Scholar
Grundy, A. C., Mead, A., and Burston, S. 2003. Modelling the emergence response of weed seeds to burial depth: interactions with seed density, weight and shape. J. Appl. Ecol. 40:757–770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henson, I. E. 1970. The effects of light, potassium nitrate and temperature on the germination of Chenopodium album L. Weed Res. 10:27–39.Google Scholar
Kennedy, A. C. 1999. Soil microorganisms for weed management. J. Crop Prod. 2:123–138.Google Scholar
Kremer, R. J. and Li, J. 2003. Developing weed-suppressive soils through improved soil quality management. Soil Till. Res. 72:193–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legendre, P. and Gallagher, E. D. 2001. Ecologically meaningful transformations for ordination of species data. Oecologia. 129:271–280.Google Scholar
Long, R. L., Panetta, F. D., Steadman, K. J., Probert, R., Bekker, R. M., Brooks, S., and Adkins, S. W. 2008. Seed persistence in the field may be predicted by laboratory-controlled aging. Weed Sci. 56:523–528.Google Scholar
Lutman, P. J. W., Cussans, G. W., Wright, K. J., Wilson, B. J., Wright, G. M., and Lawson, H. M. 2002. The persistence of seeds of 16 weed species over six years in two arable fields. Weed Res. 42:231–241.Google Scholar
Matilla, A., Gallardo, M., and Puga-Hermida, M. I. 2005. Structural, physiological and molecular aspects of heterogeneity in seeds: a review. Seed Sci. Res. 15:63–76.Google Scholar
Menalled, F. D., Smith, R. G., Dauer, J. T., and Fox, T. B. 2007. Impact of agricultural management on carabid communities and weed seed predation. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 118:49–54.Google Scholar
Mohler, C. L. 2001. Weed life history: identifying vulnerabilities. Pages 40–98 in Liebman, M., Mohler, C. L., and Staver, C. P., eds. Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds. New York Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mohler, C. L. and Galford, A. E. 1997. Weed seedling emergence and seed survival: separating the effects of seed position and soil modification by tillage. Weed Res. 37:147–155.Google Scholar
Navntoft, S., Wratten, S. D., Kristensen, K., and Esbjerg, P. 2009. Weed seed predation in organic and conventional fields. Biol. Cont. 49:11–16.Google Scholar
Peacock, A. D., Mullen, M. D., Ringelberg, D. B., Tyler, D. D., Hedrick, D. B., Gale, P. M., and White, D. C. 2001. Soil microbial community responses to dairy manure or ammonium nitrate applications. Soil Biol. BioChem. 33:1011–1019.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D., Hepperly, P., Hanson, J., Douds, D., and Seidel, R. 2005. Environmental, energetic, and economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. BioScience. 55:573–582.Google Scholar
Sawma, J. T. and Mohler, C. L. 2002. Evaluating seed viability by an unimbibed seed crush test in comparison with the tetrazolium test. Weed Technol. 16:781–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schabenberger, O., Tharp, B. E., Kells, J. J., and Penner, D. 1999. Statistical tests for hormesis and effective dosages in herbicide dose response. Agron. J. 91:713–721.Google Scholar
Schutte, B. J., Davis, A. S., Renner, K. A., and Cardina, J. 2008. Maternal and burial environment effects on seed mortality of velvetleaf and giant foxtail. Weed Sci. 56:834–840.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweizer, E. E. and Zimdahl, R. L. 1984. Weed seed decline in irrigated soil after six years of continuous corn and herbicides. Weed Sci. 32:76–83.Google Scholar
Seber, G. A. F. 1984. Multivariate Observations. New York John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Steckel, L. E., Sprague, C. L., Stoller, E. W., Wax, L. M., and Simmons, F. W. 2007. Tillage, cropping system, and soil depth effects on common waterhemp seed-bank persistence. Weed Sci. 55:235–239.Google Scholar
Teasdale, J. R., Mangum, R. W., Radhakrishnan, J., and Cavigelli, M. A. 2004. Weed seedbank dynamics in three organic farming crop rotations. Agron. J. 96:1429–1435.Google Scholar
Teo-Sherrell, C. P. A., Mortensen, D. A., and Keaton, M. E. 1996. Fates of weed seeds in soil: a seeded core method of study. J. Appl. Ecol. 33:1107–1113.Google Scholar
Van Mourik, T. A., Stomph, T. J., and Murdoch, A. J. 2005. Why high seed densities with buried mesh bags may overestimate depletion rates of soil seed banks. J. Appl. Ecol. 42:299–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, M. and Mitschunas, N. 2008. Fungal effects on seed bank persistence and potential applications in weed biocontrol: a review. Basic Appl. Ecol. 9:191–203.Google Scholar
Yao, S., Lan, H., and Zhang, F. 2010. Variation of seed heteromorphism in Chenopodium album and the effect of salinity stress on the descendants. Ann. Bot. 105:1015–1025.Google Scholar
Zelles, L. 1999. Fatty acid patterns of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides in the characterisation of microbial communities in soil: a review. Biol. Fertil. Soils. 29:111–129.Google Scholar