Germination and seed persistence of Amaranthus retroflexus and Amaranthus viridis: Two emerging weeds in Australian cotton and other summer crops

Redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) and slender amaranth (Amaranthus viridis L.) are becoming problematic weeds in summer crops, including cotton in Australia. A series of laboratory and field experiments were performed to examine the germination ecology, and seed persistence of two populati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-02, Vol.17 (2), p.e0263798-e0263798
Main Authors: Khan, Asad M, Mobli, Ahmadreza, Werth, Jeff A, Chauhan, Bhagirath S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Amaranth
Amaranthus
Amaranthus - classification
Amaranthus - growth & development
Amaranthus - physiology
Amaranthus retroflexus
Amaranthus viridis
Australia
Biology and Life Sciences
Chlorine compounds
Control programs
Cotton
Crops
Crops, Agricultural - growth & development
Darkness
Depletion
Dormancy
Ecology
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Environmental conditions
Evaluation
Field tests
Food
Germination
Germination - physiology
Gossypium - growth & development
Herbicides
Humans
Integrated control
Management
People and Places
Plant Weeds - growth & development
Plant Weeds - physiology
Populations
Precipitation
Ripening
Room temperature
Salinity
Seasons
Seedlings
Seedlings - growth & development
Seeds
Seeds - growth & development
Sodium
Sodium chloride
Soils
Sorghum
Species
Summer
Weed Control
Weeds
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Summary:Redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) and slender amaranth (Amaranthus viridis L.) are becoming problematic weeds in summer crops, including cotton in Australia. A series of laboratory and field experiments were performed to examine the germination ecology, and seed persistence of two populations of A. retroflexus and A. viridis collected from the Goondiwindi and Gatton regions of Australia. Both populations of A. retroflexus and A. viridis behaved similarly to different environmental conditions. Initial dormancy was observed in fresh seeds of both species; however, germination reached maximum after an after-ripening period of two months at room temperature. Light was not a mandatory prerequisite for germination of both species as they could germinate under complete darkness. Although both species showed very low germination at the alternating day/night temperature of 15/5 C, these species germinated more than 40% between ranges of 25/15 C to 35/25 C. Maximum germination of A. retroflexus (93%) and A. viridis (86%) was observed at 35/25 C and 30/20, respectively. Germination of A. retroflexus and A. viridis was completely inhibited at osmotic potentials of -1.0 and -0.6 MPa, respectively. No germination was observed in both species at the sodium chloride concentration of 200 mM. A. retroflexus seedling emergence (87%) was maximum from the seeds buried at 1 cm while the maximum germination of A. viridis (72%) was observed at the soil surface. No seedling emergence was observed from a burial depth of 8 cm for both species. In both species, seed persistence increased with increasing burial depth. At 24 months after seed placement, seed depletion ranged from 75% (10 cm depth) to 94% (soil surface) for A. retroflexus, and ranged from 79% to 94% for A. viridis, respectively. Information gained from this study will contribute to an integrated control programs for A. retroflexus and A. viridis.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0263798