Status of the work in WP7, the UK National Cluster

June 2018

A field experiment combining different cultivation and rotation treatments has been set up at three sites across the UK with a focus on the control of herbicide resistant black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides) in reduced tillage systems. The treatment structure reflects that in the new Long-Term Experiment at Rothamsted (part of WP7) allowing the conclusions reached from this highly monitored experiment to be validated across a range of conditions. The Rothamsted experiment sis also comparing ploughed systems with zero tillage across rotations with increasing functional diversity. In the Rothamsted experiment, baseline data on weed seedbank diversity have been collected in the 2017/18 season to allow the effect of the contrasting systems on trajectories of weed communities to be quantified.

Baseline diversity of the weed seedbank measured on 126 plots of the new Long-Term experiment at Rothamsted testing the effect of cultivations and rotations on weed communities and competition. Size of circle is proportional to total abundance.