Predicting changes in dormancy level in weed seed soil banks: Implications for weed management

Abstract

The development of models that allow the prediction of timing and extent of weed emergence is essential for planning more effective weed control strategies in agricultural systems. Dormancy is a common attribute of many weed seed populations and this hampers the task of predicting emergence from weed seed banks under field conditions. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework as an attempt to understand how the different environmental factors affect dormancy in weed seed banks in soil. We also present examples showing how these concepts could be used to develop quantitative models to predict dormancy loss in summer annual weed species and discuss how predictions derived from these models could be used to maximise the effect of weed control techniques.