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Accepted manuscript

Established native hedgerows on field borders suppress weeds on farms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2025

Rachael Freeman Long*
Affiliation:
Farm Advisor Emeritus, University of California Cooperative Extension, Woodland, CA, USA
Justin Michael Valliere
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Rachael Freeman Long, [email protected]

Abstract

Established hedgerows of native plants on the borders of crop fields provide a variety of ecosystem service benefits in agricultural landscapes. However, their influence on weed communities is not well understood, and there are concerns that hedgerows could contribute to weed infestations on farms. To address this research gap, we examined the role of established hedgerows of native California plants on weed abundance (weed numbers and cover) and weed species richness in field borders and in adjacent crops, in large-scale, monocropping systems compared with conventionally managed field borders (i.e., no hedgerows). Across 20 farm sites in California’s Central Valley, hedgerows on orchard crop borders reduced weed numbers by 66%, weed species richness by 59%, and weed cover by 74%. On annual field crop borders, hedgerows reduced weed numbers by 71%, weed species richness by 60%, and weed cover by 70%. In orchards, hedgerows also reduced weed intrusion into the adjacent crop interior, with significantly lower weed cover to the first tree row (area directly underneath the trees), weed species richness to the 10 m tree row, and weed numbers to the 10 m avenue (area between the tree rows). Yearly management practices and associated costs for weed control in established hedgerows were significantly less than for conventionally managed field borders. This study highlights the effectiveness of native hedgerows as a sustainable nature-based solution for reducing weed pressure and management inputs on farms.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Weed Science Society of America

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