Abstract
Vulpia myuros has become an increasing weed problem in winter cereals in Northern Europe. However, the information about V. myuros and its behavior as an arable weed is limited. Field and greenhouse experiments were conducted in 2017/18 and 2018/19, at the Department of Agroecology in Flakkebjerg, Denmark to investigate the emergence, phenological development and growth characteristics of V. myuros in monoculture and in mixture with winter wheat, in comparison to Apera spica-venti, Alopecurus myosuroides and Lolium multiflorum. V. myuros emerged earlier than A. myosuroides and A. spica-venti but later than L. multiflorum. Significant differences in phenological development were recorded among the species. Overall phenology of V. myuros was more similar to that of L. multiflorum than to A. myosuroides and A. spica-venti. V. myuros started seed shedding earlier than A. spica-venti and L. multiflorum but later than A. myosuroides. V. myuros was more sensitive to winter wheat competition in terms of biomass production and fecundity than the other species. Using a target-neighborhood design, responses of V. myuros and A. spica-venti to the increasing density of winter wheat were quantified. At early growth stages “BBCH 26–29”, V. myuros was suppressed less than A. spica-venti by winter wheat, while opposite responses were seen at later growth stages “BBCH 39–47” and “BBCH 81–90”. No significant differences in fecundity characteristics were observed between the two species in response to increasing winter wheat density. The information on the behavior of V. myuros gathered by the current study can support the development of effective integrated weed management strategies for V. myuros.
Highlights
Noninversion tillage practices have increased throughout Europe in order to preserve soil productivity, reduce labor and costs for fuel among other reasons
The densities of grasses growing in the absence and presence of winter wheat were not significantly different (p > 0.05), growth curves and fecundity characteristics were compared within grass species growing in the absence and presence of crop
Our results of V. myuros emerging at a similar rate as the other grass weeds are in line with those of Scherner et al [23,24], who found no significant differences in the emergence rate (b) between
Summary
Noninversion tillage practices have increased throughout Europe in order to preserve soil productivity, reduce labor and costs for fuel among other reasons. Noninversion tillage in combination with a high frequency of winter cereals in the crop rotation has, caused new grass weed problems such as Vulpia myuros (L) C.C. Gmel. V. myuros has become an increasing weed problem in winter cereals in Northern Europe [1]. In Denmark, V. myuros was first reported in red fescue in the. 1990s, and since the infested area with V. myuros has increased significantly [2]. A more recent survey of grass weeds with a special focus on V. myuros revealed the higher infestations of V. myuros
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