Comparison of weed communities in Manitoba ecoregions and crops

Abstract

In 1997, a weed survey was conducted during July and August in fields of wheat, barley, oat, canola and flax in Manitoba. Field selection was based on a stratified-random sampling methodology using ecodistricts as strata. Species in the Poaceae family were most commonly observed in the survey, followed by species in the Polygonaceae, Asteraceae and Brassicaceae families. The six most abundant weed species were green foxtail [Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv.], wild oats (Avena fatua L.), wild buckwheat (Polygonum convolvulus L.), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L.), redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) and wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.). The survey highlighted significant differences between ecoregions and between crops in residual weed infestations. The weed community in the Boreal Transition ecoregion was dominated by seven species, whereas fields in the Aspen Parkland and Lake Manitoba Plain ecoregions were dominated by two species and the Interlake Plain ecoregion was dominated by only one species. Although significant differences were found between the weed communities in crops, they were not as great as differences between ecoregions. The Manitoba residual weed community in 1997 was very similar to that reported for 1978–1981 and 1986, suggesting that the same species should remain a focus for weed management. Key words: Weed survey, weed relative abundance, weed distributions, Manitoba ecoregions