Floristic composition and species diversity of weed community after 10 years of different cropping systems and soil tillage in a Mediterranean environment |
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| Authors: | E Campiglia E Radicetti R Mancinelli |
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| Institution: | Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Sustainable cropping systems based on low inputs have received much attention, even if they may lead to the establishment of a competitive weed flora. This study, conducted from 2011 to 2014 in a Mediterranean environment, evaluated the changes in weed community composition in two cropping systems conventional (CONV ) and organic (ORG )] with different soil tillage inversion tillage (IT ) and non‐inversion tillage (NoIT )] in a wheat–tomato–chickpea rotation that began in 2000. The treatments were replicated three times according to a randomised complete block design. The organic system was managed according to EU regulations. Inversion tillage consisted of mouldboard ploughing to a depth of 30 cm, while NoIT consisted of subsoiling to a depth of 20 cm. Weed control was based on herbicide application in CONV and mechanical weeding in ORG . The organic non‐inversion system showed the highest weed biomass (134, 128 and 195 g dry matter (DM ) m?2 in wheat, tomato and chickpea, respectively) and weed density (66, 77 and 76 plants m?2 in wheat, tomato and chickpea, respectively), as well as community richness. However, ORG always increased weed diversity, even if annual dicotyledon species were abundant in ORG ‐IT and perennial dicotyledon species in ORG ‐NoIT . The conventional system enhanced the relative frequency of both annual (CONV ‐IT ) and perennial (CONV ‐NoIT ) grasses. There was a negative correlation between density of perennial weeds and crop yield (r 2 = 0.24, P < 0.001). Therefore, in the Mediterranean environment, combining organic practices with non‐inversion tillage could lead to the establishment of perennial weeds that are difficult to control, thus requiring specific weed management practices. |
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| Keywords: | organic farming non‐inversion tillage biodiversity |
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