Agricultural production systems that reduce the use of in-crop herbicides
could greatly reduce risks of environmental damage and the development of
herbicide-resistant weeds. Few studies have investigated the long-term
effects of in-crop herbicide omissions on weed seedbank community size and
structure. A crop-rotation study was sampled 10 yr after a strictly annual
rotation and an annual/perennial rotation were exposed to different in-crop
herbicide omission treatments. In-crop herbicides were applied either in all
annual crops (control), omitted from oats only, or omitted from both flax
and oats. Seedbank densities were greatest when in-crop herbicides were
omitted from flax and oats, and this treatment also reduced crop yield.
Shannon-Wiener diversity differed among crops in the annual crop rotation
and among herbicide omission treatments in the perennial rotation. Herbicide
omissions changed the weed-community structure in flax and in wheat and
canola crops in the annual rotation enough to warrant alternate control
methods in some treatments. The magnitude of the effects on the seedbank
parameters depended largely on the competitive ability of the crop in which
herbicides were omitted. No yield response to omitting herbicides in oats
indicated that standard weed management practices have reduced weed
populations below yield-loss thresholds.