Research in Herbosa Succession Process Based on Soil Fertility Evolution
Weed biodiversity is one of the indicators of farmland ecological environment and greatly affected by different fertilization patterns. This research program was to study weed community under different fertilization patterns in farmlands based on long term field experiments in Hubei, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, and to explore evolution trend of weed community structure in the fields of rice, maize and wheat.
IPNI-2009-CHN-HB34
03 Mar 2010
2009 Annual Interpretive Summary
Effect of Soil Fertility Evolution on the Weed Succession Process, 2009
The process of ecological adaptation of plants involves a mutual interaction between plants and their environment. In an agro-ecosystem, the changes caused by long-term fertilization can bring new selection pressures, particularly for weeds. These pressures affect the frequency of weed occurrence, weed community structure and diversity, and the soil weed seed bank. An agro-ecosystem is an artificial ecosystem under the effect of intensive human disturbances. The weed community, as an important component of the agro-ecosystem, will exhibit a variety of traits in its natural succession process and pattern under soil fertility evolution. These traits will also illuminate rehabilitation measures for the natural ecosystem as well as management strategies for farmland weeds. Three experimental sites were established in 2008, including: Honghu County, Hubei; Yichang County, Hubei; and Minhou County, Fujian. The project’s initial objective is to disclose the grass community succession process and patterns under accelerated soil fertility evolution through long-term fertilization. The project hopes to provide scientific foundations for comprehensive management of weeds in farmland and rehabilitation of degraded natural ecological systems.
A biodiversity survey of grass communities was conducted in April and July of 2009 at each site including grass species, species coverage, and modular traits of some species. Results found the respective dominant species in Honghu, Yichang, and Minhou to be 49 species in 18 families, 45 species in 20 families, and 54 species in 25 families. In Honghu, the dominant species were Humulus scandens, Setaria faberii, Glycine soja, Artemisia annua,and Artemisia princeps. In Yichang, the dominant species were Cynodon dactylon, Erigeron annuus, Lindernia ciliate, Setaria faberii, and Bidens pilosa. In Minhou, the dominant species were Biden pilosa, Erigeron annuus, Imperata cylindrical, and Rublaceae cordifolia. Most of the soil and plant analysis results will be ready in 2010. Hubei-34