Strategic fertilizer management is an important component of integrated weed management systems. A field study was conducted to determine the effect of various application methods of phosphorus (P) fertilizer on weed growth and wheat yield. Weed species were chosen to represent species that varied in their growth responsiveness to P: redroot pigweed (medium), wild mustard (medium), wild oat (medium), green foxtail (high), redstem filaree (high), and round-leaved mallow (high). P fertilizer application methods were seed placed at a 5-cm depth, midrow banded at a 10-cm depth, surface broadcast immediately before seeding, and surface broadcast immediately after seeding of wheat. An unfertilized control was included. P treatments were applied to the same plot in four consecutive years to determine annual and cumulative effects over years. Shoot P concentration and biomass of weeds were often lower with seed-placed or subsurface-banded P fertilizer compared with either surface-broadcast application method. This result occurred more frequently with the highly P-responsive weeds and was more evident in the latter study years. P application method had little effect on weed-free wheat yield but often had a large effect on weed-infested wheat yield. Seed-placed or midrow-banded P compared with surface-broadcast P fertilizer often resulted in higher yields when wheat was in the presence of competitive weeds. Seedbank determinations at the conclusion of the study indicated that the seed density of five of six weed species was reduced with seed-placed or subsurface-banded P compared with surface-broadcast P. Information gained in this study will aid development of more effective weed management systems in wheat.

The soil seed bank in a 5-y-old Sahelian fallow was studied through seed extraction and compared with germinations recorded either in controlled conditions, ex situ in a glasshouse, or in the field. The influence of phosphorus fertilizer and mulch application during the preceding crop period, and that of seasonal grazing regimes applied the last 2 y of fallowing, were assessed on the composition of the seed stock. Ctenium elegans, Fimbristylis hispidula, Merremia pinnata and Phyllanthus pentandrus accounted together for 75% of extracted seeds, 72% of ex situ, and 62% of in situ seedlings. Mulch treatment was correlated with the first axis of the canonical correspondence analyses performed on the seedling datasets. Mulch and phosphorus fertilizer treatments held similar responses, as they both favoured the seed bank of erect dicotyledons such as P. pentandrus and Cassia mimosoides. On the whole, the effects of grazing remained modest compared with the residual effects of past crop management practices. However, seedling densities increased as a result of dry-season grazing, while the soil seed bank decreased with wet-season grazing. Grazing also reduced the spatial heterogeneity of the seed bank rather than the overall number of species.