QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE WEED FLORA AFTER CULTIVATION AND THE SEED POPULATION IN THE SOIL

Eighty comparisons were made between the numbers of weed seedlings emerging after seedbed preparation and the numbers of apparently viable seeds extracted by sieving and flotation from samples of the top 10 cm of soil. When soil moisture was adequate, the total seedling numbers represented 3–6% of the numbers of seeds; when dry weather followed cultivation, the percentages were lower than this. The percentages were relatively high for Poa annua L. and Stellaria media (L.) Vill. but low for Chenopodium album L. and Papaver spp. Relatively high numbers of seeds of Potygonum aviculare L. gave rise to seedlings in early spring but few appeared on seedbeds prepared after mid‐May; the reverse was true for Aphanes arvehsis L. It is suggested that data of this kind could provide a basis for predicting weed floras following cultivation at any time of year from determinations of seed numbers made at the start of the year. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved