Pre-emergence herbicides affect seedling emergence of tropical forest tree species

Published Date
Original Paper

First Online: 

28 November 2016

DOI: 10.1007/s11676-016-0348-5

Cite this article as: 

de Souza, D.C. & Engel, V.L. J. For. Res. (2016). doi:10.1007/s11676-016-0348-5

Author

• Diego Cerveira de SouzaEmail author
• Vera Lex Engel

Abstract

Testing techniques to reduce weed infestation is a crucial step in developing direct tree seeding systems. The use of pre-emergence herbicides may be an alternative to manual weeding techniques, but so far, information on how they affect the seeds of native tree species is scarce. We established a greenhouse experiment to evaluate the effects of four pre-emergence herbicides (atrazine, diuron, isoxaflutole and oxyfluorfen) on weed suppression and seedling emergence and early growth of seven tropical forest tree species (Annona coriacea Mart., Citharexylum myrianthum Cham., Cordia ecalyculata Vell., Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taub., Psidium guajava L., Pterogyne nitens Tul. and Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with five treatments and five replicates. The treatments consisted of a single dose of each pre-emergence herbicide and a control. Throughout the 60 days after sowing we evaluated weed cover and seedling emergence and early growth of tree species. Overall, our results suggest that all tested herbicides reduced weed cover; however, they also negatively affected tree species seedling emergence. Of the four herbicides tested, atrazine and diuron showed the greatest effects on tree seedling emergence, oxyfluorfen was least aggressive towards native species and isoxaflutole was most effective in weed control. Native tree species varied in their responses to herbicides, indicating that future experiments should increase the number of species tested as well as investigate how seed traits can affect the species responses to different herbicides.

References 

1. Andrei E (2013) Compêndio de defensivos agrícolas: guia prático de produtos fitossanitários para uso agrícola (9nd edition). Organização Andrei, São Paulo, pp 1577–1602Google Scholar
2. Bianchetti A, Ramos A (1981) Quebra de dormência de sementes de canafístula Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taubert: resultados preliminares. Bol Pesqui Florest 3:77–86Google Scholar
3. Bonilla-Moheno M, Holl KD (2010) Direct seeding to restore tropical mature-forest species in areas of slash-and-burn agriculture. Restor Ecol 18(2):438–445CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Camargo JLC, Ferraz IDK, Imakawa AM (2002) Rehabilitation of degraded areas of Central Amazonia using direct sowing of forest tree seeds. Restor Ecol 10(4):636–644CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Chazdon RL (2008) Beyond deforestation: restoring forests and ecosystem services on degraded lands. Science 320(5882):1458–1460CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
6. Cole RJ, Holl KD, Keene CL, Zaha RA (2011) Direct seeding of late-successional trees to restore tropical montane forest. For Ecol Manag 261(10):1590–1597CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. D’Antonio C, Meyerson LA (2002) Exotic plants species as problems and solutions in ecological restoration: a synthesis. Restor Ecol 10(4):703–713CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. D’Antonio CM, Vitousek PM (1992) Biological invasion by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 23:63–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Dodd MB, Power IL (2007) Direct seeding of indigenous tree and shrub species into New Zealand hill country pasture. Ecol Manag Restor 8(1):49–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Doren RF, Volin JC, Richards JH (2009) Invasive exotic plant indicators for ecosystem restoration: an example from the Everglades restoration program. Ecol Ind 9(6):S29–S36CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Douglas GB, Dodd MB, Power IL (2007) Potential of direct seeding for establishment native plants into pastoral land in New Zealand. N Z J Ecol 31(2):143–153Google Scholar
12. Doust SJ, Erskine PD, Lamb D (2006) Direct seeding to restore rainforest species: microsite effects on the early establishment and growth of rainforest tree seedlings on degraded land in the wet tropics of Australia. For Ecol Manag 234(1):333–343CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Doust SJ, Erskine PD, Lamb D (2008) Restoring rainforest species by direct seeding: tree seedling establishment and growth performance on degraded land in the wet tropics of Australia. For Ecol Manag 256(5):1178–1188CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Durigan G, Guerin N, Da Costa JNMN (2013) Ecological restoration of Xingu Basin headwaters: motivations, engagement, challenges and perspectives. Philos Trans R Soc B 368(1619):2–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Ellshoff ZE, Gardner DE, Wikler C, Smith CW (1995) Annotated bibliography of the genus Psidium, with emphasis on P. cattleianum (strawberry guava) and P. guajava (common guava), forest weeds in Hawai’i. Honolulu: Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit. Tech Rep 95:1–5Google Scholar
16. Engel VL, Parrotta JA (2001) An evaluation of direct seeding for restoration of degraded lands in central São Paulo state, Brazil. For Ecol Manag 152(1):169–181CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17. Ferreira RA, Santos PL (2012) Direct sowing: an alternative to the restoration of ecosystems of tropical forests. In: Sudarshana P, Nageswara-Rao M, Soneji JR (eds) Tropical forests. InTechOpen, Rijeka, pp 333–348Google Scholar
18. Holl KD (1999) Factors limiting tropical rain forest regeneration in abandoned pasture: seed rain, seed germination microclimate, and soil. Biotropica 31(2):229–242CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Hossain F, Elliott S, Chairuangsri S (2014) Effectiveness of direct seeding for forest restoration on severely degraded land in Lampang Province, Thailand. Open J For 4(5):512–519Google Scholar
20. Hughes F, Vitousek PM (1993) Barriers to shrub reestablishment following fire in the seasonal submontane zone of Hawai´i. Oecologia 93(4):557–563CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Jinks RL, Willoughby I, Baker C (2006) Direct seeding of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.): the effects of sowing date, pre-emergent herbicides, cultivation, and protection on seedling emergence and survival. For Ecol Manag 237(1):373–386CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Lake JC, Leishman MR (2004) Invasion success of exotic plants in natural ecosystems: the role of disturbance, plant attributes and freedom from herbivores. Biol Conserv 117(2):215–226CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Lamb D (1998) Large-scale ecological restoration of degraded tropical forest lands: the potential role of timber plantations. Restor Ecol 6(3):271–279CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24. Lamb D, Erskine PD, Parrotta JA (2005) Restoration of degraded tropical forest landscapes. Science 310(5754):1628–1632CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
25. Leishman MR, Wright IJ, Moles AT, Westoby M (2001) The evolutionary ecology of seed size. In: Fenner M (ed) Seeds: the ecology of regeneration in plant communities. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 31–57Google Scholar
26. Mittermeier RA, Gil P, Hoffmann M, Pilgrim J, Brooks T, Mittermeier CG, Lamoreux J, Da Fonseca GAB (2004) Hotspots revisited: earth’s biologically richest and most endangered terrestrial ecoregions. CEMEX, Conservation International and Agrupacio’n Sierra Madre, Monterrey, p 390Google Scholar
27. Nassif SML, Perez SCJGA (1997) Germinação de sementes de amendoim-do-campo (Pterogyne nitens Tul.): influência dos tratamentos para superar a dormência e profundidade de semeadura. Rev Bras Sementes 19(2):171–178CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. Parrotta JA, Turnbull JW, Jones N (1997) Catalyzing native forest regeneration on degraded tropical lands. For Ecol Manag 99(1–2):1–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29. Pereira SR, Laura VA, Souza ALT (2013) Establishment of Fabaceae tree species in a tropical pasture: influence of seed sizes and weeding methods. Restor Ecol 21(1):67–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30. Pivello VR, Shida CN, Meirelles ST (1999) Alien grasses in Brazilian savannas: a threat to the biodiversity. Biodivers Conserv 8(9):1281–1294CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31. Rodrigues RR, Lima RAF, Gandolfi S, Nave AG (2009) On the restoration of high diversity forests: 30 years of experience in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Biol Conserv 142(6):1242–1251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32. Rodrigues RR, Gandolfi S, Nave AG, Aronson J, Barreto TE, Vidal CY, Brancalion PHS (2011) Large-scale ecological restoration of high-diversity tropical forests in SE Brazil. For Ecol Manag 261(10):1605–1613CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Spader V, Vidal RA (2000) Eficácia de herbicidas graminicidas aplicados em pré-emergência no sistema de semeadura direta do milho. Planta Daninha 18(2):373–380CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34. Sun D, Dickson GR (1996) The competition effect of Brachiaria decumbens on the early growth of direct-seeded trees of Alphitonia petriei in Tropical North Australia. Biotropica 28(2):272–276CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35. Tunjai P, Elliott S (2012) Effects of seed traits on the success of direct seeding for restoring southern Thailand’s lowland evergreen forest ecosystem. N For 43(3):319–333Google Scholar
36. Willoughby I, Clay D, Dixon F (2003) The effect of pre-emergence herbicides on germination and early growth of broadleaved species used for direct seeding. Forestry 76(1):83–94Google Scholar
37. Willoughby I, Jinks RL, Kerr G, Gosling PG (2004) Factors affecting the success of direct seeding for lowland afforestation in the UK. Forestry 77(5):467–482Google Scholar
38. Willoughby I, Jinks RL, Stokes V (2006) The tolerance of newly emerged broadleaved tree seedlings to the herbicides clopyralid, cycloxydim and metazachlor. Forestry 79(5):599–608Google Scholar

For further details log on website :
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11676-016-0348-5