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Effects of water-saving irrigation on weed infestation and diversity in paddy fields in East China

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Abstract

The purpose of the article is to investigate the effects of water-saving irrigation on weed infestation and diversity in paddy fields; a two-year field experiment was conducted in Gaoyou Irrigation District, China. The responses of two irrigation treatments, controlled irrigation (CI) and traditional irrigation (TI), were observed and compared. The irrigation water use, yield, weed density, coverage ratio, height, species richness, density, dominant species, Shannon–Wiener index, and Pielou index were examined to analyze the water productivity, weed infestation, and diversity in paddy fields under the two treatments. The results showed that the water conditions were similar before the late tillering stage, and thereafter the CI fields were alternatively dry and wet with shallow standing water and low soil water content, while the TI fields were mostly continuously flooded by deep standing water and high soil water content. Irrigation water use for CI was 46.8% lower than TI. The CI treatment reduced weed density by 38.0%, decreased coverage ratio by 13.8%, and resulted in a 39.0% increase in weed height. Fewer species were found in CI fields than TI fields. The Shannon–Wiener index decreased by 11.5%, and the Pielou index increased by 3.2%. The changed water regime under CI not only impeded the growth of dominant species but also placed the whole weed community at a relatively stable level with reduced weed density. Meanwhile, aquatic weeds were well controlled; however, semi-aquatic weeds became the dominant species. In general, CI effectively reduced the risk of weed outbreaks, and weed diversity also decreased when it reduced irrigation water use.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China under the National Scientific and Technological Support Project (2011BAD25B07 and 2012BAD08B04), the Ministry of Water Resources under the Public Welfare Scientific Research Project (201301014), and the Advanced Science and Technology Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China

    Yufeng Luo, Zhao Xiang & Yuanlai Cui

  2. Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan, 430010, Hubei, China

    Haolong Fu & Yujiang Xiong

  3. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu, China

    Yufeng Luo, Haolong Fu, Yujiang Xiong & Yves Christian Bugingo

  4. Gaoyou Municipal Water Affairs Bureau, Gaoyou, 225600, Jiangsu, China

    Fei Wang

  5. Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific UNESCO, DKI Jakarta, 12110, Indonesia

    Shahbaz Khan

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  1. Yufeng Luo
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Correspondence to Yufeng Luo.

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Luo, Y., Fu, H., Xiong, Y. et al. Effects of water-saving irrigation on weed infestation and diversity in paddy fields in East China. Paddy Water Environ 15, 593–604 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-016-0577-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-016-0577-4

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