Do Common Waterhemp (Amaranthus rudis) Seedling Emergence Patterns Meet Criteria for Herbicide Resistance Simulation Modeling?

Abstract

A study was conducted to quantify the magnitude and sources of variation in common waterhemp temporal patterns of emergence over 1 yr. In 2008 and 2010, emergence patterns in the absence of soil disturbance were determined for replicated samples of maternal families (progeny from one individual) separately harvested during the previous year from four plants within each of four agricultural fields (16 maternal families yr−1) at a university research farm near Urbana, IL. Combining data across years, variance partitioning indicated that seed sample within maternal family explained 48% of total variation in the percentage of viable, buried seeds that produced seedlings. Differences within, rather than among, maternal families also accounted for large fractions (60 to 99%) of total variation in cumulative percentage emergence at specific points during the growing season. Within years, seed samples characterized by delayed or accelerated emergence patterns did not originate from specific maternal plants. These results indicate that common waterhemp seed populations are without strong maternal plant effects that limit emergence to narrow intervals within the overall emergence period. Thus, results of this study support the use of contemporary approaches for modeling herbicide resistance evolution in common waterhemp, which assume seedling cohorts contain offspring from all individuals occurring within the maternal population.