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Effects of Incorporated Rye and Hairy Vetch Cover Crop Residue on the Persistence of Weed Seeds in the Soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2018

Charles L. Mohler ,
Alan G. Taylor ,
Antonio DiTommaso ,
Russell R. Hahn  and
Robin R. Bellinder
Charles L. Mohler*
Affiliation:
Senior Research Associate, Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Alan G. Taylor
Affiliation:
Professor, Section of Horticulture, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY, USA
Antonio DiTommaso
Affiliation:
Professor, Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Russell R. Hahn
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Robin R. Bellinder
Affiliation:
Professor, Section of Horticulture, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Charles L. Mohler, Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, 907 Bradfield Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Incorporation of cover crop residue into the soil has been suggested as a means for reducing weed seedbanks. To explore this hypothesis, we buried mesh bags of seeds mixed with sand at 15-cm depth in late fall in plots that had been planted with rye (Secale cereale L.) or hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth.) or left unplanted. Separate bags contained either velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medik.), giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.), Powell amaranth (Amaranthus powellii S. Watson), or common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.). The experiment used a randomized complete block design with five replications, and enough bags were buried to allow a final recovery in each of the following three springs. Each spring, bags were exhumed, and seeds were either counted and tested for viability or mixed with chopped cover crop material or simply stirred for control bags, and the material was reburied. The experiment was completed twice with initial burials in fall of 2011 and 2013. Rye had no consistent effect on persistence of seeds of any of the species. For two observation intervals, rye increased persistence of a species; for another two intervals, it decreased persistence relative to the control; but mostly rye did not affect persistence. Hairy vetch decreased persistence of C. album and A. powellii in both runs of the experiment but had no effect on persistence of A. theophrasti and S. faberi. Germination of the first two species is promoted by nitrate, whereas A. theophrasti germination is not sensitive to nitrate, and S. faberi is only rarely nitrate sensitive. We suggest that nitrate released during decomposition of hairy vetch may have promoted fatal germination of C. album and A. powellii. Incorporation of legume cover crops like hairy vetch may provide a means for decreasing the seedbanks of the many weed species whose germination is promoted by nitrate. The lack of any reduction of A. theophrasti and S. faberi seed persistence in response to hairy vetch and the inconsistent and mostly negligible effect of rye indicate that a general increase in readily decomposable organic matter through incorporation of cover crops may be ineffective at reducing weed seedbanks.

Keywords

Adam Davis, USDA-ARSFatal germinationgreen manurenitrateseedbanksseed survival.
Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Information
Weed Science , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , May 2018 , pp. 379 - 385
Copyright
© Weed Science Society of America, 2018 

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Footnotes

✠

Deceased.

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