Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T19:41:21.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Weed seed destruction by arthropods and rodents in low-input soybean agroecosystems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Gerald E. Brust  and
Garfield J. House
Gerald E. Brust
Affiliation:
Graduate Student, Department of Entomology, Box 7634, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.
Garfield J. House
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, Box 7634, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.
Get access

Abstract

Weed seed consumption experiments involving comparison of rates of seed loss by seed feeders were conducted over a five-week period in low-input (no insecticide, low herbicide usage) conventional- and no-tillage soybean agroecosystems. Seeds of four broadleaf weed species (ragweed [Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.], pigweed [Amaranthus retroflexus L.], sicklepod [Cassia obtusifolia L.], and jimsonweed [Datura stramonium L.]) and one grain crop species (wheat [Triticum aestivum L.]) were provided in a free choice design at densities of 10, 25, and 50 seeds/24 cm3. Approximately 2.3 times more seeds overall, and 1.4 times more large seeds as a group were consumed in notillage systems than in conventional-tillage systems. In our experimental low-input, notillage treatments, large ground beetles (Carabidae: Coleoptera) (15–25 mm) and mice preferentially fed on the larger seed species, while small carabids (< 15 mm), ants and crickets, fed almost exclusively on the smaller seed species. Carabid beetles were responsible for more than half of all seeds consumed. Laboratory and field studies indicated that ground beetles selectively consumed specific seed species. In conventional-tillage, ants were one of the dominant consumers of seeds, suggesting different patterns of resource partitioning in each tillage system. We suggest that selective feeding by arthropod seed feeders, in combination with their high number, could affect the species composition and possibly the abundance of weeds in low-input, no-tillage agroecosystems.

Keywords

antsbeetlesmiceselective seed eatingconventional tillageno-tillno insecticideminimal herbicide
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Winter 1988 , pp. 19 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Abramsky, Z. 1983. Experiments on seed predation by rodents and ants in the Israeli desert. Oecologia (Berl) 57:328–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Barney, R. J., Lamp, W. O., Armbrust, E. J., and Kopusta, G.. 1982. Insect predator community and its response to weed management in spring-planted alfalfa. Protec. Ecol. 6:23–33.Google Scholar
3.Blumburg, A. Y., and Crossley, D. A. Jr., 1983. Comparison of soil surface arthropod populations in conventional-tillage, no-tillage and old-field systems. Agro-Ecosystems 8:247–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Brown, J. H., Brower, J. J., Davidson, D. W., and Lidserman, G. A.. 1975. A preliminary study of seed predation in desert and montane habitats. Ecology 56:987–992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Brust, G. E., Stinner, B. R., and McCartney, D. A.. 1986. Predator activity and predation in corn agroecosystems. Environ. Entomol. 15:1017–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Buttel, F. H., Gillespie, G. W. Jr., Janke, R., Caldwell, B., and Sarrantonio, M.. 1986. Reduced-input agricultural systems: rationale and prospects. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 1:58–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Carroll, C. R., and Risch, J. J.. 1984. The dynamics of seed harvesting in early successional communities by a tropical ant, Solanopsis germinata. Oecologia (Berl) 61:388–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Davidson, D. W. 1977. Foraging ecology and community organization in desert seed-eating ants. Ecology 58:725–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Domanico, J. L., Madden, P., and Partenheimer, E. J.. 1986. Income effects of limiting soil erosion under organic, conventional, and notill systems in eastern Pennsylvania. Am. J. Alternative Agric. 1:75–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Hinkle, M. K. 1983. Problems with conservation tillage. J. Soil and Water Conserv. 38:201–206.Google Scholar
11.Holbrook, S. J. 1975. Habitat relationship and coexistence of four sympatric species of Peromyscus in northwestern New Mexico. J. Mammalogy 59:18–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Horvitz, C. C. and Beattie, A. J., 1980. Ant dispersal of Calathea (Marantaceae) seeds by carnivorous ponerines (Formicidae) in a tropical rain forest. Am. J. Bot. 67:321–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.House, G. J., and All, J. N.. 1981. Carabid beetles in soybean agroecosystems. Environ. Entomol. 10:194–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.House, G. J., and Parmelee, R. W.. 1985. Comparison of soil arthropods and earthworms from conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems. Soil Till. Res. 5:351–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.House, G. J., Stinner, B. R., Crossley, D. A. Jr, and Odum, E. P.. 1984. Nitrogen cycling in conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems: analysis of pathways and processes. J. Appl. Ecol. 21:826–848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Janzen, D. J. 1971. Seed predation by animals. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 2:465–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Kaufman, D. W., and Fleharty, E. D.. 1974. Habitat selection by nine species of rodents in north-central Kansas. Southwest Nat. 18:443–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Kirk, V. M. 1972. Seed-caching by larvae of two ground beetles, Harpalus pensylvanicus and H. erraticus. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 65:1426–1428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Kropac, Z. 1986. Estimation of weed seeds in arable soil. Pedobiology 6:105–128.Google Scholar
20.Lund, J. J., and Turpin, M. Q.. 1977. Weed seed consumption by carabids. Environ. Entomol. 5:123–126.Google Scholar
21.Mehlhop, P., and Scott, N. J., Jr. 1983. Temporal patterns of seed use and availability in a guild of desert ants. Ecol. Entomol. 8:69–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Mittelbach, G. G., and Gross, K. L.. 1984. Experimental studies of seed predation in oldfields. Oecologia (Beri) 65:7–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Platt, W. J. 1976. The natural history of a fugitive prairie plant (Marabilis hirsuta (Rush)MacM). Oecologia (Berl) 22:399–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Price, M. V. 1978. The role of microhabitat in structuring desert rodent communities. Ecology 59:910–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Price, M. V., and Waser, N. M.. 1984. On the relative abundance of species: post-fire changes in a coastal sage scrub rodent community. Ecology 65:1161–1169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Reichman, O. J. 1979. Desert granivore foraging and its impact on seed densities and distribution. Ecology 60:1085–1092.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Risch, S. J., and Carroll, C. R.. 1986. Effects of seed predation by a tropical ant on competition among weeds. Ecology 67:1319–1327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Triplett, G. B., and Worsham, A. D.. 1986. Principles of weed management with surface tillage systems. In Sprague, M. A. and Triplett, G. B. (eds). No-Tillage and Surface-Tillage Agriculture. John Wiley, New York, New York. pp. 319–346.Google Scholar
29.Wilson, R. G., Kerr, E. D., and Nelson, L. A.. 1985. Potential for using weed seed content in the soil to predict future weed problems. Weed Sci. 33:171–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar