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Quantitative analysis of emergence of seedlings from buried weed seeds with increasing soil depth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stefano Benvenuti ,
Mario Macchia  and
Sergio Miele
Mario Macchia
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Agronomia e Gestione dell'Agroecosistema, Università di Pisa, Via S. Michele degli Scalzi 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Sergio Miele
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Agronomia e Gestione dell'Agroecosistema, Università di Pisa, Via S. Michele degli Scalzi 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy
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Abstract

Trials were carried out to investigate the effects of seed burial depth on seedling emergence rate of 20 weed species. Marked depth-mediated variation in emergence ability of the different species was observed, together with a general pattern of decreasing emergence with increasing soil depth. At 10 cm, only johnsongrass, velvetleaf, catchweed bedstraw, and cutleaf geranium emerged, albeit only in limited numbers. Species most severely inhibited by burial depth were buckhorn plantain, large crabgrass, common purslane, chickweed, and corn spurry, none of which emerged from beyond 6 cm. In all species, depth-mediated inhibition was found to be sigmoidal (polynomial regression). In addition, the number of seedlings and rate of seedling emergence decreased when depth of burial increased. The depth at which the number of emerged seedlings was halved varied by species and ranged from 3.6 cm for common purslane and chickweed to 7 cm for velvetleaf and catchweed bedstraw. Excessive burial depth generally induced dormancy (in roughly 85% of cases) rather than suicide germination. A close inverse relation (second-degree equation) between seed unit weight and depth-mediated inhibition was observed. The physiological involvement of depth inhibition in seed bank ecology is discussed.

Keywords

Buckhorn plantain, Plantago lanceolata L. PLALAcatchweed bedstraw, Galium aparine L. GALAPcommon chickweed, Stellaria media (L.) Vill. STEMEcommon purslane, Portulaca oleracea L. POROLcorn spurry, Spergula arvens L. SPRARcutleaf geranium, Geranium dissectum L. GERDIjohnsongrass, Sorgum halepense (L.) Pers. SORHAlarge crabgrass, Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. DIGSAvelvetleaf, Abutilon theophrasti Medicus ABUTHSeed germinationseedling emergenceburial depthsoil seed bank
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , August 2001 , pp. 528 - 535
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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