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Weed Growth Properties of Amaranthus Retroflexus, Echinochloa Crus-Galli and Setaria Viridis as Influenced by Shifts in the Maize Cropping Season

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Abstract

Climate change is predicted to result in rising temperatures which directly influence weed growth. Moreover, alterations in farming practice and variations in the timing of maize sowing affect weeds also indirectly. The main objective of this study was to establish the methodological concept of time-for-climate substitution for use in applied research. For this purpose, a semi-field experiment was conducted with the three important maize weeds Amaranthus retroflexus, Echinochloa crus-galli and Setaria viridis, which were cropped together with maize. In four treatments sowing of weeds was delayed in order to use naturally raising temperatures. This study focusses on late weed growth properties such as tillers, panicles, seeds and biomass as they allow important demographic conclusions for long-term weed population development. Over the season, temperature was continuously monitored with data loggers and growing degree days were calculated in order to relate the late growth properties to the climatic conditions the weeds experienced during early growth in the four treatments. The results from this study suggest that the tested weeds may benefit in two ways: (1) From warmer conditions during seedling emergence and early growth with enhanced vegetative growth and seed set; (2) from more growing degree days available as a result of earlier maize sowing and related extended cropping seasons. We conclude that our methodology is suitable to investigate climate change effects on weeds for applied questions. In order to limit weed growth and weed seed set under future conditions, management measures such as herbicide treatments at later growth stages and earlier harvest of maize should be explored. Furthermore, we suggest that functional relationships between late weed growth properties such as fecundity and different climatic conditions can be used to improve the accuracy of demographic and bioclimatic models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Crop Health, University of Rostock, Satower Str. 48, Rostock, Germany

    Kristian Peters & Bärbel Gerowitt

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  1. Kristian Peters
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  2. Bärbel Gerowitt
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Peters, K., Gerowitt, B. Weed Growth Properties of Amaranthus Retroflexus, Echinochloa Crus-Galli and Setaria Viridis as Influenced by Shifts in the Maize Cropping Season. J Plant Dis Prot 122, 49–55 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03356530

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03356530

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