Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T10:30:05.038Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Separating the effects of crop rotation from weed management on weed density and diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Colleen Doucet ,
Susan E. Weaver ,
Allan S. Hamill  and
Jianhua Zhang
Colleen Doucet
Affiliation:
Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Harrow, ON, Canada NOR 1G0
Allan S. Hamill
Affiliation:
Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Harrow, ON, Canada NOR 1G0
Jianhua Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Crop rotation is thought to reduce weed density and maintain species diversity, thus preventing the domination of a few problem weeds. Because cropping sequence dictates other agricultural management practices, variations in weed populations between cropping systems may be the direct result of crop rotation, the result of different weed management practices associated with crop rotation, or both. Studies that fail to separate the effects of crop rotation from weed management may generate misleading results. A 10-yr crop rotation study was undertaken to study the dynamics of the standing weed vegetation in Zea mays L., Glycine max L., and Triticum aestivum L. The present paper compared total weed density and diversity between monocultures and rotations under three levels of weed management. Weed management accounted for 37.9% of the variation in total weed density, whereas crop rotation accounted for only 5.5%. Weed density varied between monocultures and rotations in plots where herbicides were applied. The effectiveness of rotations in reducing weed density was dependent upon the crop. Margalef's species richness index (DMG), a measure of diversity, varied among weed management strategies, with 38.4% of the variance attributed to this factor. In the 10th year, when all plots were sown with Z. mays, few cumulative effects of crop rotation were apparent, with two exceptions. In weedy and herbicide-treated plots, weed density was higher on plots cropped with Z. mays the previous year. Also, under these weed management treatments, including a cereal in the crop rotation reduced weed density. Crop rotation, when used in combination with herbicides, provides additional weed control and is therefore an effective tool in integrated weed management.

Keywords

Zea mays L., cornGlycine max L., soybeanTriticum aestivum L., wheatMargalef's species richness indexShannon's evenness indexspecies diversity
Type
Weed Management
Information
Weed Science , Volume 47 , Issue 6 , December 1999 , pp. 729 - 735
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Ball, D. A. and Miller, S. D. 1993. Cropping history, tillage, and herbicide effects on weed flora composition in irrigated corn. Agron. J. 85:817–821.Google Scholar
Barbed, P., Silvestri, N., and Bonari, E. 1997. Weed communities of winter wheat as influenced by input level and rotation. Weed Res. 37:301–313.Google Scholar
Bullock, D. G. 1992. Crop rotation. Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 11:309–326.Google Scholar
Clements, D. R., Weise, S. F., and Swanton, C. J. 1994. Integrated weed management and weed species diversity. Phytoprotection 75:1–18.Google Scholar
Derksen, D. A., Thomas, A. G., Lafond, G. P., Loeppky, H. A., and Swanton, C. J. 1995. Impact of post-emergence herbicides on weed community diversity within conservation-tillage systems. Weed Res. 35:311–320.Google Scholar
Froud-Williams, R. J. 1988. Changes in weed flora with different tillage and agronomic management systems. Pages 213–236 in Altieri, M. A. and Liebman, M., eds. Weed Management in Agroecosystems: Ecological Approaches. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Karlen, D. L., Varvel, G. E., Bullock, D. G., and Cruse, R. M. 1994. Crop rotations for the 21st century. Adv. Agron. 53:1–45.Google Scholar
Légère, A., Samson, N., Rioux, R., Angers, D. A., and Simard, R. R. 1997. Response of spring barley to crop rotation, conservation tillage, and weed management intensity. Agron. J. 89:628–638.Google Scholar
Liebman, M. and Dyck, E. 1993. Crop rotation and intercropping strategies for weed management. Ecol. Appl. 3:92–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magurran, A. E. 1988. Ecological Diversity and its Measurement. Sydney, Australia: Croom Helm, pp. 7–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahn, E. G. 1984. Structural changes of weed communities and populations. Vegetatio 58:79–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[SAS] Statistical Analysis Systems. 1989. SAS/STAT User's Guide. Version 6, 4th ed. Cary, NC: Statistical Analysis Systems Institute.Google Scholar
Stevenson, F. C., Légère, A., Simard, R. R., Angers, D. A., Pageau, D., and Lafond, J. 1997. Weed species diversity in spring barley varies with crop rotation and tillage, but not with nutrient source. Weed Sci. 45:798–806.Google Scholar
Swanton, C. J. and Weise, S. F. 1991. Integrated weed management: the rationale and approach. Weed Technol. 5:657–663.Google Scholar
Thomas, A. G., Prick, B., Derksen, D. A., Brandt, S. A., and Zentner, R. P. 1996. Crop rotations and weed community dynamics on the Canadian prairies. Pages 227–232 in Proceedings of the Second International Weed Control Congress, Volume I. Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Tomlin, A. D., Tu, C. M., and Miller, J. J. 1995. Response of earthworms and soil biota to agricultural practices in corn, soybean and cereal rotations. Acta Zool. Fenn. 196:195–199.Google Scholar
Webster, T. M., Cardina, J., and Loux, M. M. 1998. The influence of weed management in wheat (Triticum aestivum) stubble on weed control in corn (Zea mays). Weed Technol. 12:522–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zar, J. H. 1996. Biostatistical Analysis. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, p. 208.Google Scholar
Zhang, J., Hamill, A. S., and Weaver, S. E. 1996. Z.mays yield after 10 years of different cropping sequences and weed management practices. Can. J. Plant Sci. 76:795–797.Google Scholar