Respected RG members kindly share your views on how to calculate weed seed bank in soil.
Take random core samples, at least 30, and use these to calculate mean density and SE
It almost follows Raunkiaer's law of frequency distribution i.e. A>B>C>or
Follow the method for seedling emergence proposed by Van der Valk and
Davis (1978), and also by Jurik et al. (1994).
References :
Van der Valk, A.G., Davis, C.B., 1978. The role of seed banks in the vegetation dynamics of prairie glacial marshes. Ecology 59, 322–335.
Jurik, T. W., Wang, S. C., & van der Valk, A. G. (1994). of sediment load on seedling emergence from wetland seed banks. Wetlands, 14(3), 159-165.
PLEASE CHECK GOOGLE FOR BOOKS ON SEEDLING IN FLOWERING PLANTS/ANGIOPSERMS.
SEEDLING MORPHOLOGY IS A SUBJECT THAT HAS BEEN NOT MUCH INVESTIGATED. I have some papers on the subject, check my RG ACCOUNT AND PUBLICATIONS
Dear @Uma Nath Shukla Our agronomists are working on this aspect. They are taking random samples from upper layer (15 cm), middle layer (15-30 cm) and lower layer (30-50 cm) of soil in one acre field. Samples are replicated, and watered at 15 days interval. Emerging weeds are periodically assessed and characterized at regular intervals. Weed seed bank density is calculated based on this method at our institute.
Best regards, AKC
When you sample the soil you have to consider that the higher number of small soil cores gives a better estimate of seed bank density than fewer numer of large soil cores (provided that the total volume of sampled soil is equal for the two sampling strategies). It is also important to record the total size of the sampled soil surface, then the results of soil seed bank density have to be expressed as number of seeds per square meter. You can find some further sampling considerations here: COMMUNITY ECOLOGY Vol. 8, Iss. 1, pp: 75-85 (2007), doi:10.1556/ComEc.8.2007.1.10
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