Project Number: 3611-12220-008-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Oct 01, 2010
End Date: Sep 30, 2015

Objective:
Objective 1: Measure effects of management, climate, and soil conditions on microbial processes (herbicide degradation, nitrogen cycling, and weed seedbank dynamics) in corn/soybean ecosystems. Objective 2: Evaluate the effects of management and climate change on the biology and ecology of weedy and invasive species, including potential weedy cellulosic bioenergy crops, in Midwestern cropping systems. Objective 3: Identify effective combinations of weed management components through application of both new and existing knowledge that exploit useful plant and environmental interactions in vegetable cropping systems.

Approach:
Each objective of the proposed work seeks to advance knowledge of specific topics that directly or indirectly relate to weed-crop competition for resources, providing a basis to identify tactics of routine management that shift the competitive advantage to the crop. We examine the ecology of microorganisms and plants, and combine these efforts into a synthesis that applies research findings toward practical solutions. Each objective utilizes the whole scientific team, and regardless of scale, experiments include samples from a common group of sites, providing extensive metadata support. Studies under Objective 1 address microbial activities that are influenced by agricultural management, climate, or soil conditions. Primary climatic factors to be addressed are temperature and rainfall. In Objective 2, management and climate change will be evaluated as to effects on the biology and ecology of weedy and invasive species, including potential weedy cellulosic bio-energy crops, in Midwestern cropping systems. A particular focus will be on spatiotemporal variation in demographic parameters and population growth rates at multiple levels of scale. As a means of unifying observations, whole life cycles of weeds will be the unit of study whenever possible. Objective 3 identifies effective combinations of weed management components through application of both new and existing knowledge that exploit useful plant and environmental interactions in vegetable cropping systems.