Effect of plant population on seed yield, mass and size of guayule

Bedane, G.M.; Gupta, Mohit; George, D. L.

doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2008.04.020

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

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“…Second, treated plots contained a higher density of uniformly small (i.e., volume) plants in contrast to the low density, fewer large plants BC-alone plots. We did not measure plant density directly in this study, but trade-offs between plant density and individual fecundity have been documented elsewhere (Å gren et al 2008;Bedane et al 2009;Sheppard et al 2002). Differences in the age structure of plants among plots representing the three management strategies also could have influenced levels of pod production per plant (Crawley 2000;Rees and Paynter 1997).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Management of Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) Using Biological Control

Herrera-Reddy

Carruthers

Mills

2012

Invasive plant sci. manag.

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Integrated weed management strategies (IWM) are being advocated and employed to control invasive plants species. In this study, we compared three management strategies (biological control alone [BC], BC with fire [BC + F], and BC with mowing [BC + M]) to determine if physical controls reduce seed production by Scotch broom and interfere with the action of the biological control agent—the Scotch broom seed weevil. We measured seed production and seed predation by the weevil at both pod and plant scale, and seed bank density over two field seasons. We found no difference in the number of seeds per pod among management strategies. However, combining management strategies (BC + M and BC + F) resulted in significant reductions in pods per plant, mature seeds per plant, and seed bank density relative to biological control alone. We did not find differences among management strategies in number of weevils per pod or proportion of seeds predated by the weevil at either pod or whole-plant scale. However, combining management strategies (BC + M and BC + F) resulted in a significant reduction in healthy mature seeds per plant relative to biological control alone. Although both integrated strategies outperformed biological control alone in reducing seed production and the seed bank, with no statistical difference between them, we propose that short-rotation prescribed fire could prove to be a more effective strategy for long-term management of Scotch broom due to its potential for slightly greater depletion of the seed bank.

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