Weed seed bank dynamics under different tillage and crop rotation sequences

Abstract:

Predicting weed pressure from season to season remains one of the hardest challenges in sustainable crop management. This research quantified weed seed bank dynamics under three tillage systems zero tillage (ZT), minimum tillage (MT), and conventional tillage (CT) combined with a four-year wheat–canola–maize–wheat rotation at Wielkopolska Agricultural University, Poznań, Poland, from 2019 to 2023. Soil cores (0–30 cm) were collected each autumn and seeds extracted by wet sieving and flotation. Total seed bank density was highest under ZT (2,847 seeds m⁻²) and lowest under CT (1,523 seeds m⁻²), but seed viability was 23% lower under ZT owing to greater surface predation. Species richness peaked under MT (Shannon H' = 2.14). The wheat–canola break reduced Apera spica-venti density by 38% relative to continuous wheat. These results indicate that combining minimum tillage with diversified rotations offers the best trade-off between seed bank suppression and biodiversity conservation in Central European arable systems.