Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:37:06.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nitrogen Fertilizer and Crop Residue Effects on Seed Mortality and Germination of Eight Annual Weed Species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Adam S. Davis
Adam S. Davis*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service Invasive Weeds Management Unit, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Weed seed persistence in the soil seedbank is central to weed population dynamics; however, limited knowledge of mechanisms regulating seed survival in soil remains an obstacle to developing seed-bank management practices. Weed seeds are rich in carbon and nitrogen, and therefore may represent an important nutritional resource to soil microbes. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that weed seed mortality due to microbial predation is limited by soil inorganic N availability and soil C:N ratio. A factorial of N fertilizer rate (0, 14, and 28 mg N kg soil−1) and corn stover addition rate (0 and 3,000 mg stover kg soil−1) was applied to bioassay units containing Illinois field soil (silt loam, 3.8% organic carbon) and seeds of one of eight annual weed species common to Illinois field crops: giant foxtail, green foxtail, yellow foxtail, wooly cupgrass, giant ragweed, redroot pigweed, velvetleaf, and Venice mallow. Seeds were incubated for 2 mo, after which they were recovered from the soil and tested for viability. Only three of the eight species, velvetleaf, giant ragweed, and wooly cupgrass, responded to the experimental treatments. Velvetleaf seed mortality was 40% lower in the corn stover–amended treatment than in the unamended treatment. Both giant ragweed and wooly cupgrass showed a more complex interaction between N fertilizer and corn stover treatments. Path analysis supported the hypothesis that the influence of soil N on seed mortality in velvetleaf was because of the direct effect of soil N on microbial predation of velvetleaf seeds, whereas for giant ragweed and wooly cupgrass, the effect on seed mortality appeared to be mediated through soil N effects on germination. Mechanisms underlying soil N fertility effects on weed seed mortality appear to be species-specific. Future investigations of this phenomenon should include quantitative measures of seed coat composition and quality.

Keywords

Giant foxtail, Setaria faberi Herrm. SETFAgiant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L. AMBTRgreen foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. SETVIredroot pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus L. AMAREvelvetleaf, Abutilon theophrasti Medik. ABUTHVenice mallow, Hibiscus trionum L. HIBTRwooly cupgrass, Eriochloa villosa (Thunb.) Kunth ERIVIyellow foxtail, Setaria glauca (L.) Beauv. SETLUSeed mortalitysoil carbon and nitrogenC:N ratioN fertilizermicrobial degradationgerminationorganic amendmentweed seedbank management
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 123 - 128
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

Benech-Arnold, R. L., Sanchez, R. A., Forcella, F., Kruck, B. C., and Ghersa, C. M. 2000. Environmental control of dormancy in weed seedbanks in soil. Field Crops Res. 67:105–122.Google Scholar
Benvenuti, S., Macchia, M., and Miele, S. 2001. Quantitative analysis of emergence of seedlings from buried weed seeds with increasing soil depth. Weed Sci. 49:528–535.Google Scholar
Burnham, K. P. and Anderson, D. R. 2002. Model Selection and Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach. New York Springer Verlag. 32–74.Google Scholar
Brady, N. C. and Weil, R. W. 1996. The Nature and Properties of Soils. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc. 740.Google Scholar
Chee-Sanford, J. C., Williams, M. M. II, Davis, A. S., and Sims, G. K. 2006. Do microorganisms influence seed-bank dynamics? Weed Sci. 54:575–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conde, E., Cardenas, M., Ponce-Mendoza, A., Luna-Guido, M. L., Cruz-Mondragón, C., and Dendooven, L. 2005. The impacts of inorganic nitrogen application on mineralization of 14C-labelled maize and glucose, and on priming effect in saline alkaline soil. Soil Biol. Biochem. 37:681–691.CrossRefGoogle 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.Google 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. II. 2005. Environmental factors affecting seed persistence of 13 annual weeds across the U.S. Corn Belt. Weed Sci. 53:860–868.Google Scholar
Egley, G. H. 1986. Stimulation of weed seed germination in soil. Rev. Weed Sci. 2:67–89.Google Scholar
Fortuna, A. M., Paul, E. A., and Harwood, R. R. 2003. The effects of compost and crop rotations on carbon turnover and the particulate organic matter fraction. Soil Sci. 168:434–444.Google Scholar
Gallagher, R. and Fuerst, P. 2005. Ecophysiological basis of weed seed longevity in the soil. Weed Sci. Soc. Am. Abstracts. 45:323. [Abstract].Google 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
Hendry, G. A. F., Thompson, K., Moss, C. J., Edwards, E., and Thorpe, P. C. 1994. Seed persistence: a correlation between seed longevity in the soil and ortho-dihyroxyphenol concentration. Funct. Ecol. 8:658–664.Google Scholar
Jensen, L. S., Salo, T., Palmason, F., Breland, T. A., Henriksen, T. M., Stenberg, B., Pedersen, A., Lundström, C., and Esala, M. 2005. Influence of biochemical quality on C and N mineralisation from a broad variety of plant materials in soil. Plant Soil. 273:307–326.Google Scholar
Khan, S. A., Mulvaney, R. L., and Mulvaney, C. S. 1997. Accelerated diffusion methods for inorganic-nitrogen analysis of soil extracts and water. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 61:936–942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kremer, R. J. 1986. Antimicrobial activity of velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti) seeds. Weed Sci. 34:617–622.Google Scholar
Kuzyakov, Y., Friedel, J. K., and Stahr, K. 2000. Review of mechanisms and quantification of priming effects. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32:1485–1498.Google Scholar
Marriot, E. E. and Wander, M. M. 2006. Total and labile soil organic matter in organic and conventional farming systems. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70:950–959.Google Scholar
Mickelson, J. A. and Grey, W. E. 2006. Effect of soil water content on wild oat (Avena fatua) seed mortality and seedling emergence. Weed Sci. 54:255–262.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R. J. 2001. Path analysis: pollination. Pages 217–234. in Scheiner, S.M., Gurevitch, J. eds. Design and Analysis of Ecological Experiments. New York Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Neter, J., Kutner, M. H., Nachtsheim, C. J., and Wasserman, W. 1996. Applied linear statistical models. Chicago Irwin. 1408.Google Scholar
J. Peters. 2000. Tetrazolium Testing Handbook. Contribution Number 29 to the Handbook on Seed Testing. Lincoln, NE Association of Official Seed Analysts. 176.Google Scholar
Sawma, J. and Mohler, C. L. 2003. Evaluating seed viability by an unimbibed crush test in comparison with the tetrazolium test. Weed Technol. 16:781–786.Google Scholar
Schafer, M. and Kotanen, P. M. 2003. The influence of soil moisture on losses of buried seeds to fungi. Acta Oecol. 24:255–263.Google Scholar
Shem-Tov, S., Klose, S., Ajwa, H. A., and Fennimore, S. A. 2005. Effect of carbon:nitrogen ratio and organic amendments on seedbank longevity. Weed Sci. Soc. Am. Abstracts. 45:324. [Abstract].Google Scholar
Underwood, A. J. 1997. Experiments in Ecology: Their Design and Interpretation Using Analysis of Variance. Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press. 504.Google Scholar
Wiles, L. J., Barlin, D. H., Schweizer, E. E., Duke, H. R., and Whitt, D. E. 1996. A new soil sampler and elutriator for collecting and extracting weed seeds from soil. Weed Technol. 10:35–41.Google Scholar