Weed seedbank response to crop rotation and tillage in semiarid agroecosystems

Abstract

In a semiarid Mediterranean site in central Spain, field experiments were conducted on a Calcic Haploxeralf (noncalcic brown soil), which had been managed with three crop rotations and two tillage systems (no-tillage and conventional tillage) since 1987. The crop rotations consisted of barley → vetch, barley → sunflower, and a barley monoculture. The study took place in two growing seasons (1992-1994) to assess the effects of management practices on the weed seedbank. During this period, spring weed control was not carried out in winter crops. In the no-tillage system, there was a significant increase in the number of seeds of different weed species: anacyclus, common purslane, corn poppy, knotted hedge-parsley, mouse-ear cress, spring whitlowgrass, tumble pigweed, venus-comb, and Veronica triphyllos. Conversely, the presence of prostrate knotweed and wild radish was highest in plots under conventional tillage. These results suggest large differences in the weed seedbank as a consequence of different soil conditions among tillage systems, but also the necessity of spring weed control when a no-tillage system is used. With regard to crop rotations, the number of seeds of knotted hedge-parsley, mouse-ear cress, and spring whitlowgrass was greater in the plots under the barley → vetch rotation. Common lambsquarters dominated in the plots under the barley → sunflower rotation, whereas venus-comb was the most frequent weed in the barley monoculture. Larger and more diverse weed populations developed in the barley → vetch rotation rather than in the barley → sunflower rotation or the barley monoculture.