Spatial Patterns of Soil Seed-Bank Related to Some Soil Properties

Abstract

Precision agriculture requires new approaches to research that are designed explicitly to improve understanding of the complex interactions among multiple factors affecting crop growth and farm decision making. The variability of weed distribution is related to several pedoclimatic and agronomic factors. The strategy to control the most competitive weeds, able to significantly reduce crop production, should be based on the knowledge of both weed biology and spatial- temporal variation. To understand the infestation dynamics, a georeferred data-set of soil properties coupled with the so called seed-bank, which provides information on potential occurrence of different types of weeds, was used in an integrated analysis. In the present work Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Indicator Kriging (IK) were applied to relate soil characteristics with the distribution of broad-leaf weeds and grasses.