Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Weed management: a need for ecological approaches
- 2 Weed life history: identifying vulnerabilities
- 3 Knowledge, science, and practice in ecological weed management: farmer–extensionist–scientist interactions
- 4 Mechanical management of weeds
- 5 Weeds and the soil environment
- 6 Enhancing the competitive ability of crops
- 7 Crop diversification for weed management
- 8 Managing weeds with insects and pathogens
- 9 Livestock grazing for weed management
- 10 Weed evolution and community structure
- 11 Weed management: the broader context
- Taxonomic index
- Subject index
7 - Crop diversification for weed management
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Weed management: a need for ecological approaches
- 2 Weed life history: identifying vulnerabilities
- 3 Knowledge, science, and practice in ecological weed management: farmer–extensionist–scientist interactions
- 4 Mechanical management of weeds
- 5 Weeds and the soil environment
- 6 Enhancing the competitive ability of crops
- 7 Crop diversification for weed management
- 8 Managing weeds with insects and pathogens
- 9 Livestock grazing for weed management
- 10 Weed evolution and community structure
- 11 Weed management: the broader context
- Taxonomic index
- Subject index
Summary
Introduction
One of the defining characteristics of an ecosystem is the diversity of plant species it contains. In agricultural systems, diversity of the dominant plant species – crops – can vary in both spatial and temporal dimensions. Crops can be sown in pure stands (sole crops), but can also be sown in multispecies mixtures (intercrops or polycultures), a practice that probably began with the development of tropical agriculture (Plucknett & Smith, 1986). Temporally, a crop can be sown continuously in the same field (continuous monoculture) or sown only intermittently, in sequence with other crops (rotation), a practice known from ancient Greece, Rome, and China (Karlen et al., 1994). Rotation sequences often contain only food, feed, and fiber crops, but may also include cover crops to improve and conserve soil during seasons when “main” crops are absent. In temperate areas, rotation cycles typically extend over several years, with only annual changes of crops, but in areas with long or continuous growing seasons, farmers may plant a sequence of several crops within a single year (multiple cropping), or overlap the late growth period of one crop with the interplanting and early development of another (relay cropping).
Spatial and temporal diversity in agricultural systems may also result from growing trees and shrubs with herbaceous species (agroforestry).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds , pp. 322 - 374Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001
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