Weed seed bank as affected by crop rotation and disturbance

- The maximum weed seeds density was recorded in the P and Or (no till) systems.
- The maximum Shannon's diversity index was detected in Wi and Wd rotations (continuous cropping).
- certain weed species often are adapted to specific crops.
- Some weeds are compatible in all circumstances.

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of crop rotations on soil seed bank to provide a comparison between crop fields and non-crop lands. Crop rotations were continuous dryland wheat (Wd), continuous irrigated wheat (Wi), wheat-sugarbeet (WS) and wheat-chickpea (WCh). Nearby pastures (P) and orchards (Or) were also studied for comparison purposes. Estimates of the density of seed banks ranged from 52779 seed m−2 in P to 9906 seeds m−2 in Wd. A total of 114 plant species from 24 families were identified from seeds collected from different farms. 33 weed species were at high frequency in weed communities. Crop rotations were dominated by annual weed species, while the weed species dominated in P were mostly not found in any crop rotation. The two weed species Roemeria refracta and Eragrostis cilianensis were frequently present in all the study sites. Amaranthus chlorostachys and Euphorbia esula were more abundant in the areas of moderate to high disturbance. In SW and WS rotations, due to use of grass herbicides and hand weeding, winter annual broadleaves such as Lactuca serriola and Anchusa italica were the prominent species in the seed bank. Results showed that a number of weed species are adapted to a specific crop sequences and disturbance levels. Weed species richness, seed bank abundance and diversity in soil depths are highly dependent on disturbance levels. The current study highlights the importance of agricultural practices including crop sequences or disturbance levels in determining the characteristics of weed populations. This provides useful information to improve methods for maintaining plant population balance.