Abstract
SummaryA better understanding of weed seed production is a key element for any long‐term management allowing some weeds to shed seeds. The challenge with measuring seed production in weeds is the large effort required in terms of time and labour. For the weed speciesEchinochloa crus‐galli,it was tested whether the number of seeds per panicle dry weight or per panicle length can be used to estimate seed production. Experiments were conducted in three maize fields in north‐eastern Germany. The effect of factors that could influence this relationship, such as the time of seedling emergence, the density ofE. crus‐galli, the control intensity of other weeds, seed predation and field, was included. A few days before maize harvest, all panicles were removed and weighed, panicle length was measured, and for a subsample of 178 panicles, the number of seeds was counted manually. Panicle dry weight predicted the number of seeds per panicle better (R2 = 0.92) than did panicle length (R2 = 0.69). The other factors except for ‘field’ and ‘seed predation’ had no effect on these relationships. The relationships between seed number and panicle dry weight found in this study closely resembled those reported in an earlier study. Based on our results, we conclude that both plant traits are appropriate for the estimatation of seed production, depending on required level of precision and availablilty of resources for the evaluation of sustainable weed management strategies.
Highlights
Integrated weed management aims to maintain the control over weeds while at the same time reducing the use of herbicides whenever possible
Relationship between panicle dry weight and seed production on a small scale Of all tested models, the linear regression model (LM) with log transformation was the most parsimonious and revealed the highest R2 or pseudo-R2; further analysis focussed on LM
When data of all fields were analysed together, the number of seeds per panicle was best described by panicle dry weight (R2 = 92%)
Summary
Integrated weed management aims to maintain the control over weeds while at the same time reducing the use of herbicides whenever possible. Within this framework, an important tool is to accept weeds below economic thresholds (Barzman et al, 2015). The effectiveness of chemical control of E. crus-galli, the basis of weed control in commercial maize cultivation, is threatened by the high risk of herbicide resistance evolution (Claerhout et al, 2016; Heap, 2018). Seeds shed from weeds that survived control, either planned due to integrated management or unplanned due to resistant biotypes, challenge us to understand the seed production of E. crus-galli.
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