Survival Strategies

Weeds survive by

• Soil • asexual • artificial

t seedbank • sexual • natural
• Seed
en longevity n
m • Dormancy tio l
sh • germination uc sa
bli od er
ta pr sp
es re di
Choose the best weed establishment
factor that fits the description
A -SOIL AS SEEDBANK
B - GERMINATION

C1. Horizon A, considered as the melting pot of weed

- DORMANCY
D - SEED LONGEVITY
seeds
E - NONE OF THE ABOVE

2. burial treatment for weed seeds

3. gibberellin
4. 70% of major weeds are found here
5. Flooding,
6. Nelumbo nucifera, oldest record of seeds found
7. 15.24 cm depth of plowing
8. 1040 years (±20), longest recorded time for seed
survival
9. 30,000 to 50,0000 per m2 estimated seeds
10. ecesis
Soil as Seedbank
 The seedbank refers to the portion of the earth where weeds
are deposited.
 Only a few weeds are dominant species comprising 70 to
90% of the total seedbank, which are considered the primary
pests because despite the control measures applied to it,
resistance is still evident.
 The other group, which is about 10 to 20%, is adapted to the
geographic area but not to the current practices.
 The last group, a small percentage of the total seedbank,
includes recalcitrant seeds from previous seedbanks, newly
introduced species, and seeds of previous cropping.
 The significance of determining seed number in the soil,
gives an indication of weed control method efficiency, when
Seed Longevity

 Describes the ability of the seed to germinate

even after prolonged dormancy.
 Experiments conducted germination of weed
seeds even after burial treatment.
 Long-lived seeds are characteristic of
disturbed habitats.
 Most long-lived seeds are annuals or biennials.
 Small seeds tend to have greater longevity
than large seeds.
Choose the appropriate type of
WEED survival

1. Dormancy
2. Relatively small seeds of weeds
3. Contaminated crop seed
A -Weed Reproduction
B4.- Wind
Weed Dispersal
Asexual
C5.- Weed reproduction
Establishment
D6.- Magnitude
none of the above
of seeds produced is immense
7. Vegetative propagules
8. Seedbank increases eruptively due to seed rain
9. senescence
10.farm machineries driving through the fields
Dormancy
 Dormancy is a characteristic of the seed, not of the
environment, the degree of which defines the conditions
required to make the seed germinate.
Types of Dormancy
 Innate: is caused by endogenous factors such as embryo
immaturity
 Induced: is a temporary dormancy that occurs when a seed
is exposed to hot or cold temperatures or other
environmental conditions; it continues after the environment
changes and prevents germination during the wrong time of
the year; often a period of afterripening is required for the
seed to germinate
 Enforced: is caused by unfavorable environmental
conditions such as temperature, moisture, oxygen, and the
presence of inhibitors; when these environmental limitations
are removed, the seeds will germinate freely
•The time and natural process required for certain
seeds to overcome dormanccy and germinate
properly
•It is a “catch-all” term to denote processes,
interactions and changes associated with transition of
dormant seeds to non-dormant or fully afterripened
state
AFTERRIPENING
Germination

 Most weed species germinates within the top

1 to 2 inches of the soil.
 This top couple of inches is the weed bank
which causes the weed pressure in the field.
If control of germination is attained in this
layer, majority of the weeds is controlled.
 Weed seed which is buried below this layer
are not in a position to germinate unless they
are moved to the soil surface by tillage.
Reproduction

 Most weeds produce a very large number of

seed per plant; magnitude of production.
 Most weeds produce very small seeds.
 The number of weed seed in seedbank can
vary according to past management and
existing weed species.
Dispersal ...
Special adaptations, artificially aided
Interference modes ... How weeds do it?

Competition Allelopathy
Choose the appropriate weed interference:
A - COMPETITION
B - ALLELOPATHY
C - BOTH

1. Plus, adding to the agroecosystem

2. Minus, reduction of available nutrients for the
crops
3. its potential is for suppressing growth, by
releasing substances
4. Basis for deciding the Crop’s weed free period
5. decayed sugars, one form of secondary plant
substances
6. water
7. secondary plant substances
8. requires two organisms
9. CTL
10. CPC
Competition Indicators
 Economic threshold is of practical
consideration.
 Knowledge of critical threshold or
ordinary level of weed density that will
not cause significant reduction in yield is
fundamental for the formulation of
proper weed control measures.
 Economic threshold or critical density is
used to determine circumstances in
which profit from controlling weeds
exceed the cost of doing so.
 A wide scale acceptance of any weed
control practice depends to a large
extent on the economic relationship
between treatment cost and increased
crop yields.
CRITICAL THRESHOLD LEVEL
 Or the critical weed-free period
concept, (a.k.a. CPWC or the critical
period for weed control) is the
minimum length of time during
which the crop should be practically
weed-free to avoid a yield or quality
reduction.
 At some point, crop seedlings and
weeds are large enough to compete
for light, water and nutrients. Weeds
usually win this competition,
marking the beginning of the critical
weed-free period. Economic losses
will occur if weeds are not
controlled.
CRITICAL PERIOD OF COMPETITION
Learned anything???