Weed infestation and biodiversity of winter wheat under the effect of long-term crop rotation

Abstract

The paper presents the study of the floristic composition of weeds and weed infestation in winter wheat in long-term crop rotations at the experimental station near Novi Sad (Serbia). During the study period, a total of 48 weed species were determined, out of which 33 were determined in each study year. In two study years, there were 18 common species, while 15 species determined in 1991 were not found 19 years later. On the other hand, the study in 2010 recorded 15 new species that had not been previously found. The greatest floristic diversity (20 species) was found on fertilized four-year rotation in 1991 and unfertilized two-year rotation in 2010. The lowest diversity was recorded in 2010 on fertilized four-year rotation (9 species) and fertilized three-year rotation (10 species). The highest weed infestation was recorded in 1991 on unfertilized two-year rotation (2963 plants m(-2)) and unfertilized three-year rotation (2126 plants m(-2)), which is statistically significant compared to other variants. The lowest average weed infestation was observed in 2010 on fertilized three-year rotation (40 plants m(-2)) and fertilized four-year rotation (53 plants m(-2)). Long-term crop rotations have a significant effect on the floristic composition and structure of weeds in winter wheat.