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Suppression of weed occurrence in a five-year corn–earthworm coculture system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2020

Tao Li ,
Jiequn Fan ,
Zhenguan Qian ,
Guohui Yuan ,
Dandan Meng ,
Shuiliang Guo Open the ORCID record for Shuiliang Guo [Opens in a new window]  and
Weiguang Lv
Tao Li
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
Jiequn Fan
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
Zhenguan Qian
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
Guohui Yuan
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
Dandan Meng
Affiliation:
Graduate Student, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
Shuiliang Guo*
Affiliation:
Professor, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
Weiguang Lv*
Affiliation:
Professor, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
*
Authors for correspondence: Weiguang Lv, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 1000 Jinqi Road, Fengxian District, Shanghai 201403, China. (Email: lwei1217@sina.com); and Shuiliang Guo, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200234, China. (Email: gsg@shnu.edu.cn)
Authors for correspondence: Weiguang Lv, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 1000 Jinqi Road, Fengxian District, Shanghai 201403, China. (Email: lwei1217@sina.com); and Shuiliang Guo, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200234, China. (Email: gsg@shnu.edu.cn)
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Abstract

The use of a corn–earthworm coculture (CE) system is an eco-agricultural technology that has been gradually extended due to its high economic output and diverse ecological benefits for urban agriculture in China. However, the effect of CE on weed occurrence has received little attention. A 5-yr successive experiment (2015 to 2019) was conducted to compare weed occurrence in CE and a corn (Zea mays L.) monoculture (CM). The results show that CE significantly decreased weed diversity, the dominance index, total weed density, and biomass, but increased the weed evenness index. The 5-yr mean number of weed species per plot was 8.4 in CE and 10.7 in CM. Compared with those in CM, the 5-yr mean density and biomass of total weeds in CE decreased by 59.2% and 66.6%, respectively. The effect of CE on weed occurrence was species specific. The mean density of large crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.], green foxtail [Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv.], goosegrass [Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn.], and common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) in CE decreased by 94.5%, 78.1%, 75.0%, and 45.8%, whereas the mean biomass decreased by 96.2%, 80.8%, 76.9%, and 41.4%, respectively. Our study suggests that the use of CE could suppress weed occurrence and reduce herbicide inputs in agriculture.

Keywords

BiodiversityPheretima guillelmiseed predationsoil seedbankweed community.
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 69 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 230 - 237
Copyright
© Weed Science Society of America, 2020

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Footnotes

*

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Associate Editor: Te-Ming Paul Tseng, Mississippi State University

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