Canadian Journal of Plant Science (2012) 92, 933-936

Rene C. Van Acker and S. Zahra H. Cici (2012)
Timing of stinkweed and shepherd's-purse recruitment affects biological characteristics of progeny
Canadian Journal of Plant Science 92 (5), 933-936
Abstract: The effect of recruitment timing (fall versus spring recruitment) on seed characteristics and performance of two common Canadian facultative winter annual weeds; stinkweed (Thlaspi arvense L.) and shepherd's-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris L.) was investigated. Seed germination proportion was unaffected by maternal emergence timing but germination was faster for spring versus winter cohort seeds of stinkweed. Proportionally more seeds from winter (fall-recruited) cohorts were rendered non-viable by aging treatments, while for shepherd's purse, aging treatments broke dormancy instead of reducing viability and this was especially true for winter cohort seeds. For both weed species, spring cohort seeds produced earlier flowering plants with greater and lesser biomass allocation to reproductive tissues and roots, respectively. These results show the potential importance of germination timing and maternal effects on weed populations and demonstrate additional complexity in the nature of facultative winter annual weeds, in particular.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Rene C. Van Acker

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Thlaspi arvense (weed)
	Capsella bursa-pastoris (weed)