Abstract
Abstract Understanding how crop species or communities influence weed seed mortality could effectively build ecological weed management systems. Therefore, we examined whether perennial forage monocultures or mixtures can accelerate weed seed mortality and affect the microbial composition of seeds. We buried mesh bags containing weed seeds of either Powell amaranth ( Amaranthus powellii S. Watson) or velvetleaf ( Abutilon theophrasti Medik.) in perennial forage treatments consisting of monocultures and mixtures of alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.), forage chicory ( Cichorium intybus L.), and orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.). Throughout a 2.5-yr duration, we evaluated seed mortality of both weed species and used 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing to characterize A. powellii seed bacterial and fungal composition, respectively. We found limited effects of perennial forage treatment on A. theophrasti seed mortality, as the alfalfa–chicory biculture resulted in greater seed mortality compared with the orchardgrass monoculture. However, we found no other effects of perennial forage treatment on A. theophrasti or A. powellii seed mortality, nor did forage treatment affect the composition of bacteria or fungi associated with A. powellii seeds. We also found no effect of perennial forage richness on seed mortality of either weed species. Interestingly, soil cations (Ca, Mg, and K) tended to be negatively associated with weed seed mortality. Our research provided limited evidence that perennial forage communities can vary in their ability to accelerate weed seed mortality in the soil. However, we did uncover insights into microbial communities associated with weed seeds that could be promising for further research.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Alfalfa–chicory biculture increased velvetleaf seed mortality relative to orchardgrass monoculture.
- Taxon
- alfalfa
Medicago sativat0 - Treatment
- alfalfa–chicory biculturee0
- Outcome
- seed mortalitye0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Comparator
- orchardgrass monoculturee0
Not reportedInteractor
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the alfalfa–chicory biculture resulted in greater seed mortality compared with the orchardgrass monoculture”
t0“monocultures and mixtures of alfalfa”
Claim · model-written summary
Other forage treatments did not affect velvetleaf seed mortality.
- Taxon
- perennial foraget0
- Treatment
- perennial forage treatmente0
- Interactor
- A. theophrasti
Abutilon theophrastie0weed - Outcome
- seed mortalitye0
- Direction
- no other effectse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“no other effects of perennial forage treatment on A. theophrasti or A. powellii seed mortality”
t0“perennial forage”
Claim · model-written summary
Forage treatments did not affect Powell amaranth seed mortality.
- Taxon
- perennial foraget0
- Treatment
- perennial forage treatmente0
- Interactor
- A. powellii
Amaranthus powelliie0weed - Outcome
- A. powellii seed mortalitye0
- Direction
- no other effectse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“no other effects of perennial forage treatment on A. theophrasti or A. powellii seed mortality”
t0“perennial forage”
Claim · model-written summary
Forage treatment did not affect bacteria associated with Powell amaranth seeds.
- Taxon
- perennial foraget0
- Treatment
- forage treatmente0
- Interactor
- A. powelliiAmaranthus powelliie0weed
- Outcome
- composition of bacteriae0
- Direction
- nor dide0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“nor did forage treatment affect the composition of bacteria or fungi associated with A. powellii seeds”
t0“perennial forage”
Claim · model-written summary
Forage treatment did not affect fungi associated with Powell amaranth seeds.
- Taxon
- perennial foraget0
- Treatment
- forage treatmente0
- Interactor
- A. powelliiAmaranthus powelliie0weed
- Outcome
- fungi associated with A. powellii seedse0
- Direction
- nor dide0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“nor did forage treatment affect the composition of bacteria or fungi associated with A. powellii seeds”
t0“perennial forage”
Claim · model-written summary
Forage richness did not affect velvetleaf seed mortality.
- Taxon
- perennial foraget0
- Treatment
- perennial forage richnesse0
- Outcome
- seed mortalitye0
- Direction
- no effecte0
Not reportedInteractor
Verbatim
e0“no effect of perennial forage richness on seed mortality of either weed species”
t0“perennial forage”
Claim · model-written summary
Forage richness did not affect Powell amaranth seed mortality.
- Taxon
- perennial foraget0
- Treatment
- perennial forage richnesse0
- Outcome
- seed mortalitye0
- Direction
- no effecte0
Not reportedInteractor
Verbatim
e0“no effect of perennial forage richness on seed mortality of either weed species”
t0“perennial forage”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil calcium, magnesium and potassium tended to correlate negatively with weed seed mortality.
Verbatim
e0“soil cations (Ca, Mg, and K) tended to be negatively associated with weed seed mortality”
t0“perennial forage”