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Effect of Dry Heat, Direct Flame, and Straw Burning on Seed Germination of Weed Species Found in Lowbush Blueberry Fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Scott N. White  and
Nathan S. Boyd
Scott N. White*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, Truro, NS B2N 5E3, Canada
Nathan S. Boyd
Affiliation:
Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Wimauma, FL 33598
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: scott.white@dal.ca.
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Abstract

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of dry heat, direct flame, and straw burning on germination of several weed species from lowbush blueberry fields. Dry heat experiments were designed as factorial arrangements of temperature (100, 200, and 300 C in experiment 1 and room temperature, 100, 200, and 300 C in experiment 2) and exposure time (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 s in experiment 1 and 2, 5, 10, and 20 s in experiment 2) to determine the exposure time required to reduce germination for each temperature. Susceptibility to dry heat varied across species tested, but germination of spreading dogbane, meadow salsify, fireweed, and hair fescue seeds collected from lowbush blueberry fields in Nova Scotia, Canada generally declined exponentially as a function of duration of heat exposure at the temperatures tested. Germination decreased more rapidly at higher temperatures in all species, although the duration of heat exposure required to reduce germination by 50 and 90% varied across temperatures and species. Exposure of seeds to direct flame rapidly reduced germination, with less than 1 s of exposure required to reduce seed germination of witchgrass, spreading dogbane, and meadow salsify by > 90%. Straw burning did not consistently reduce germination of hair fescue or winter bentgrass, indicating that a surface burn occurring above weed seeds may not be consistently effective at reducing seed viability. These results provide important estimates of the temperature and exposure times required to reduce viability of weed seeds in lowbush blueberry fields and suggest that thermal technologies that expose weed seeds to direct flame will be the most consistent in reducing seed viability.

Experimentos fueron realizados para determinar los efectos de calor seco, llama directa, y la quema de paja sobre la germinación de varias especies de malezas en campos de arándano de arbusto bajo. Los experimentos con calor seco fueron diseñados como arreglos factoriales de temperatura (100, 200, y 300 C en el experimento 1, y temperatura ambiente, 100, 200, y 300 C en el experimento 2) y de duración de exposición (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, y 80 s en experimento 1, y 2, 5, 10, y 20 s en experimento 2), para determinar el tiempo de exposición requerido para reducir la germinación en cada temperatura. La susceptibilidad al calor seco varió entre las especies evaluadas, pero la germinación de semillas de Apocynum androsaemifolium, Tragopogon pratensis, Chamerion angustifolium, y Festuca filiformis colectadas en campos de arándano de arbusto bajo en Nova Scotia, Canada, generalmente declinó exponencialmente en función de la duración de la exposición al calor a las temperaturas evaluadas. La germinación disminuyó más rápidamente a temperaturas más altas en todas las especies, aunque la duración de la exposición al calor requerida para reducir la germinación en 50 y 90% varió entre las temperaturas y las especies. La exposición directa de semillas a llamas rápidamente redujo la germinación, con menos de 1 s de exposición requerida para reducir en >90% la germinación de las semillas de Panicum capillare, A. androsaemifolium, y T. pratensis. La quema de paja no redujo consistentemente la germinación de F. filiformis o de Agrostis hyemalis, indicando que una quema superficial sobre las semillas de malezas no sería consistentemente efectiva para reducir la viabilidad de las semillas. Estos resultados brindan estimados importantes de la temperatura y los tiempos de exposición requeridos para reducir la viabilidad de las semillas de malezas en campos de arándano de arbusto bajo y sugiere que las tecnologías termales que exponen directamente las malezas de semillas a llamas serán las más consistentes para reducir la viabilidad de las semillas.

Keywords

Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub CHAANhair fescue, Festuca filiformis Pourret FESTEmeadow salsify, Tragopogon pratensis L. TROPRspreading dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium L. APCANwinter bentgrass, Agrostis hyemalis (Walt.)witchgrass, Panicum capillaire L. PANCAlowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.Exposure timelethal durationperennial crops
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 263 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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Footnotes

Associate Editor for this paper: Bradley Hanson, University of California, Davis.

References

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