Influence of nitrogen on competition between cereals and their natural weed populations

Summary The effects of nitrogen fertilizer on the growth and density of natural weed populations in spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were investigated in the absence of herbicide. An increased level of applied nitrogen did not enhance: weed germination, tended to decrease the total weed biomass and had a differential effect upon the biomass of individual weed species in both wheat and barky. In competition with barley, Chenopodium album L. and Lamium spp. had lower nitrogen optima than the crop, while Urtica urens L. had a higher nitrogen optimum. In competition with wheat, Stellaria media (L.) Vill., Lamium spp. and Veronica spp. had lower nitrogen optima than the crop. The systematic changes in nitrogen effect with time were analysed by fitting orthogonal polynomials to the growth and density curves. The methodology could be recommended for other studies in which time or other systematic factors are included, as it supplies information which a traditional analysis of variance cannot provide. Since seed production is positively correlated with biomass, so nitrogen level affects seed production and, hence, the seed pool and future weed population, suggesting that fertilizer usage can be exploited in an integrated programme of crop: weed management. A trend towards lower N fertilizer application owing to concerns about the environment willfavour most of the weed species investigated in these experiments and change the composition of weed populations.