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Quantifying seed and establishment limitation to seedling recruitment of arable weeds: an example of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2021

Christian Selig*
Affiliation:
PhD Student, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, Crop Health Group, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
Friederike de Mol
Affiliation:
Researcher, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, Crop Health Group, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
Paula R. Westerman
Affiliation:
Researcher, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, Crop Health Group, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
Bärbel Gerowitt
Affiliation:
Professor, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, Crop Health Group, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany
*
Author for correspondence: Christian Selig, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, Crop Health Group, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany. (Email: [email protected])

Abstract

The establishment of plants in an ecosystem is limited by the availability of seeds and the availability of suitable sites for establishment. Describing plant population dynamics through the relative strength of seed and establishment limitation is an important concept in the study of natural ecosystems. To date, it is unclear whether this concept can be applied to describe populations of annual weeds in agricultural fields. Using a recruitment function, we show that limitation parameters prove valuable in describing seedling recruitment in weed populations. We conducted a seed addition experiment in three cornfields (Zea mays L.) and recorded seedling recruitment in populations of the economically important weed barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.]. Seed predation, competition with other weeds, and seed burial were prevented. We estimated the strength of seed and establishment limitation in the population with two parameters: n, which is the number of microsites, and b, which is the suitability of those sites to support a seedling. We further estimated the relative proportions of density-dependent and density-independent establishment limitation in the seedling population. Recruitment rates of E. crus-galli ranged from 31% to 36% across all evaluated seed densities and fields, which is high compared with results from other seed addition studies. Two of the three monitored populations were predominantly establishment limited at the highest evaluated seed density of 2,400 added seeds m−2. Further knowledge about the relative strength of limitations in other weed populations will provide important information on how effective different weed management strategies can be.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Weed Science Society of America

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Muthukumar V. Bagavathiannan, Texas A and M University

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